Hydroxyapatite reduces potential Cadmium risk by amendment of sludge compost to turf-grass grown soil in a consecutive two-year study

Abstract

Recycling of sludge compost to soil as conditioner is generally regarded as the best means of disposal. However, concerns regarding heavy metal residues and sludge toxicity have recently received increasing public attention. Cadmium (Cd) is a mobile metal commonly found in sludge; therefore, the risk posed by Cd contaminated sludge should be carefully assessed. In this report, the effects of addition of hydroxyapatite (HAP) with sludge compost amendment on potential Cd risk were investigated. The results of consecutive two years showed that exchangeable Cd content in treatment of sludge compost with 1.5% HAP decreased by 6.0% compared with single sludge compost treatment, and residual Cd increased by 7.6%. Compared with single sludge compost, the incremental rate of exchangeable Cd dropped by 38.3% and the reductive rate of residual Cd increased by 37.7% in response to 1.5% HAP addition, indicating that HAP played a role of decreasing Cd phytoavailability. The HAP reduced the amount of Cd uptaken by turf-grass in both root and leaf. Moreover, HAP remarkably improved the quality of turf grass grown in amended soil, including leaf greenness, green maintainable period and root strength. However, HAP did not attenuate the downward mobility of Cd. Taken these together, these findings indicated that HAP can be used as a potential candidate to control surface Cd risk of sludge compost amended soil rather than that from leachate.