Abstract
There is growing concern that Cd in soils can be transferred to plants, resulting in phytotoxicity and threats to human health via the food chain. Biochar has been reported to be a soil amendment capable of reducing the bioavailability of metals in soil by electrostatic interactions, ionic exchange and the specific binding of metal ions by surface ligands. To determine the effects of Cd contamination and nanobiochar on the growth characteristics of plants, the dynamics of Cd in soil were explored in Petri dish and pot experiments (0%, 0.2%, 0.5% and 1% nanobiochar), respectively. The diversity, distribution and composition of the bacterial community in treated soil were monitored by high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the germination potential and height and weight of plants were significantly decreased in Cd-treated soil samples (P < 0.05). The Cd content of Brassica chinensis L. in the treated soil groups was lower than that in the untreated soil groups (P < 0.05) after nanobiochar application. The application of biochar significantly improved the microbial biomass, microorganism abundance and diversity of Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes in Cd-contaminated soil and reduced the diversity of Proteobacteria, which was relatively more persistent than in the contaminated sites without biochar application. The results of this study provide theoretical and technical support for understanding the environmental behavior of nanopassivators, thus enhancing the role of biochar in the remediation of soil pollution.
Highlights
There is growing concern that Cd in soils can be transferred to plants, resulting in phytotoxicity and threats to human health via the food chain
These results indicated that the germination of cucumber, tomato, lettuce and carrot tended to decrease as the Cd concentration increased
There was a slight decrease in the germination percentage for cucumber and tomato in the 50 mg/l nanobiochar-treated group, an increasing tendency was found in the nanobiochar suspension treatment (Fig. 1B)
Summary
There is growing concern that Cd in soils can be transferred to plants, resulting in phytotoxicity and threats to human health via the food chain. In Egypt, Wabel and his colleagues observed that the addition of Conocarpus erectus L. biochar significantly reduced shoot heavy metal concentrations in maize plants[17]. Though these potential benefits have been reported, decreases in crop productivity have been reported with specific combinations of soil and biochar[18,19]. Nanoremediation has played an increasingly important role in environmental improvement and pollution prevention, detection, monitoring and remediation, including pollution from chlorinated compounds, hydrocarbons, organic compounds and heavy metals[21,22,23] These nanoscale materials play a role in heavy metals absorption due to their large microinterface, micropores and high surface area. Nanomaterials with potential to exert beneficial effects on the environment are of great interest
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