Effects of soil amendments on lead uptake by two vegetable crops from a lead-contaminated soil from Anhui, China

Abstract

Previous studies have documented that phosphate compounds of lead (Pb) [e.g., pyromorphite Pb 5(PO 4) 3–(X), where X=OH, F or Cl] are comparatively insoluble, and their formation in Pb-contaminated soil may be a means of reducing the bioavailability and chemical lability of Pb in soil. In this study, the effect of phosphate compound amendments on the bioavailability of Pb in a polluted alkaline soil was examined. A Pb-contaminated soil was treated with hydroxyapatite (HA), phosphate rock (PR), water-soluble P fertilizer (single superphosphate, SSP) and the combination of HA with SSP. The bioavailability of Pb was determined in plant uptake studies with vegetables ( Brassica campetris L. var. communis, BC) and Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala, BO) and sequential extraction. The results indicated that the Pb concentrations in both shoots and roots of two vegetable plants decreased with increasing quantities of added P compound, and the HA treatment had the best effect at the level of 5000 mg of P kg −1as compared with other treatments in which the Pb concentrations in shoots of BO and BC decreased 51.9% and 65.5%, respectively, and the Pb concentrations in roots of BO and BC decreased 67.3% and 57.2%, respectively, as compared with the control treatment. The SSP treatment had little effect on the Pb concentrations in plant tissues. Sequential extraction results indicated that the addition of soil amendments transform soil Pb from nonresidual fractions to residual fraction substantially. The effect of treatments followed this order at the equivalent P addition: HA>PR>HA+SSP>SSP. The results suggested that HA amendments can lower the bioavailability and increase the geochemical stability of soil Pb, so it has the potential for in situ remediation in Pb-contaminated soils.