Remediation of cobalt-polluted soil after application of selected substances and using oat (Avena sativa L.)

Mirosław Wyszkowski,Milena Kosiorek

doi:10.1007/s11356-019-05052-x

Mirosław Wyszkowski, Milena Kosiorek

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05052-x

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of soil application of manure, clay, charcoal, zeolite, and calcium oxide in remediation of soil polluted with cobalt (0, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 mg Co kg−1 of soil). The following were determined: weight of harvested plants as well as the content of cobalt in grain, straw, and roots of oat. In addition, tolerance index (Ti), cobalt bioconcentration (BCF), translocation (TF), and transfer (TFr) coefficients were derived. In the series without amendments, the increasing doses of cobalt had a significant effect by decreasing the yields of oat grain and straw and the mass of its roots. Also, lower tolerance index values were noted in the objects polluted with cobalt, especially with its highest dose. The application of manure had the strongest effect on increasing the mass of particular organs of the test plant, while the application of charcoal led to a significant decrease in this respect. The application of all substances to the soil, and especially manure and calcium oxide, resulted in higher tolerance index Ti values. The growing contamination of soil with cobalt caused a significant increase in the content of this element in oat and in the values of the translocation coefficient, in contrast to the effects noted with respect to the bioconcentration and transfer coefficients. All the substances applied to soil reduced the content of cobalt and its bioconcentration in oat straw, in opposition to grain and roots, limited its translocation, but elevated the transfer of this element from soil to plants. Soil contamination with cobalt promoted the accumulation of lead and copper in grain, cadmium, lead, nickel, zinc, manganese, and iron in straw, as well as cadmium, nickel, zinc, and manganese in oat roots. As the cobalt dose increased, the content of other trace elements in oat organs either decreased or did not show any unambiguous changes. Of all the tested substances, the strongest influence on the content of trace elements was produced by calcium oxide in straw and roots and by zeolite in roots, whereas the weakest effect was generated by manure in oat grain. Oat is not the best plant for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with cobalt.

Highlights

For their proper growth and development, plants need water, adequate temperature, and availability of nutrients in the soil
The following coefficients were calculated for cobalt determined in oat grain, straw, and roots: bioconcentration coefficient from the formula: (BCF) = Cplant organ/Csoil, translocation coefficient (TF) = Caerial parts/Croots, and transfer coefficient (TFr) = Cplant/Csoil, where C stands for cobalt content expressed in mg kg−1 (Ali et al 2013; Mleczek et al 2013)
The research results suggest that the incorporation of increasing cobalt doses with the simultaneous addition of soil remediating substances such as manure, clay, charcoal, zeolite, and calcium oxide affected the plant biomass, tolerance index, and content of trace elements as well as cobalt bioconcentration, translocation, and transfer coefficients in oat grain, straw, and roots

Summary

Introduction

For their proper growth and development, plants need water, adequate temperature, and availability of nutrients in the soil. Adequate levels of nutrients in plants are difficult to maintain, mostly because of the simultaneous demand for macro- (nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and sulphur) and micronutrients When the concentration of cobalt in plants is maintained on an adequate level, plants are able to produce cobalamin, essential for the production of vitamin B12, owing to which oxygen molecules can be bound. Excessive concentrations of cobalt in plants may contribute to retardation of the growth of roots and shoots, which in turn can disturb the uptake of water and nutrients by plants. Both the quantity and quality of yields are significantly depressed (Hemantaranjan et al 2000)

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