Soil Cadmium Concentration Research Articles

EVALUATION OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION INTO A COMPLEX INDUSTRIAL AREA FROM ROMANIA

The work studies the degree of heavy metal pollution in water, sediment and soil in the industrial platform area from Ramnicu Valcea, Romania. The water and sediment samples were collected from three locations of the Olt River, in two distinct periods, February and June 2010. Concentrations of nickel, copper and cadmium were analyzed. The soil samples were collected from eight points and the same elements were analyzed, in the above mentioned interval of time. The results of water and sediment analyzes were compared with legally prescriptions from the norms regarding surface water quality classification in order to determine the ecological status of water bodies. The soil samples were compared with reference values for the trace of the chemical elements in the soil. In the upstream section of the platform, heavy metals concentrations in sediments exceed limits imposed by national regulations. In downstream sections concentration of nickel, copper and cadmium are generally within the imposed limits. Concentrations of heavy metals in water were lower than National and European legislation limits. The degree of the heavy metals pollution changes, depend on wastewaters industrial flow of the chemical platform. In case of soil samples, the nickel, copper and cadmium concentrations don t exceed the limits values of the environmental legislation.

Total polyphenols content in fruits of selected cultivars of strawberries in relation to concentrations of cadmium and lead in soil

The key aim of our study was to define the correlation of total polyphenols contents in seven cultivars of strawberries (Clery, Sonata, Alba, Korona, Ázia juh, Anthea, Joly) grown in the parcels with exceeded levels of pseudo-total Cd and mobile Pb in soil. Strawberries were grown in rows long 200 m, the distance of the plants was 0.35 m and inter-row distance was 1 m. Following fertilizing was applied - at the beginning of vegetation period the doses of elements (in kg.ha-1) were: N48.2 +P78.3 +K66.3 +Mg7.2, afterwards 23 days of elements were applied in liquid irrigation in amount: N46.5 +P34.8 +K118.7. Heavy metals in contamination soil were analysed by the method of atomic absorption spectroscopy and total contents of polyphenols spectrophotometrically. The highest content of all monitored parameters (pseudo-total and mobile Cd and Pb, as well as the amount of total polyphenols) was found in Ázia juh cultivar. There was statistically significant positive relation of total polyphenols contents in Anthea cultivar to levels of all monitored forms of metals in soil and contrary, in Clery cultivar there was found non-correlation of total polyphenols contents on levels of monitored heavy metals in soil (mainly of mobile contents of Cd and Pb contents). Contents of mobile forms of individual heavy metals positively correlated with total polyphenols (except of Clery and Ázia juh cultivars). Varietal relation on levels of total polyphenols was confirmed in experiment prior to relation of these organic compounds to the presence of monitored heavy metals in soil.

Metal uptake of tomato and alfalfa plants as affected by water source, salinity, and Cd and Zn levels under greenhouse conditions.

Irrigation with wastewater is a promising option to improve crop yields and to reduce pressure on freshwater sources. However, heavy metal concentrations in wastewater may cause health concerns. A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted in order to determine cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in sandy soil and plant tissues of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). A 2 × 2 × 4 × 2 factorial treatment arrangement was utilized. Two water sources, fresh (FW) or treated wastewater (TWW), at two salinity levels (1 and 3 dS m(-1)) containing different levels of Cd and Zn were used. Samples were collected after a 90-day growth period. It was observed that the growth of both plants was depressed at the highest metal level (L3). Metal accumulation in plant parts increased with the increase of metal concentration and salinity in irrigation water. At low salinity, water source was the main factor which controlled metal accumulation, whereas, at high salinity, chloride appeared to be the principal factor controlling metal uptake regardless of water source. Metal translocation from roots to shoots increased in TWW-irrigated plants, even in the controls. Tomatoes accumulated Cd up to and above critical levels safe for human consumption, even though Cd concentration in irrigation water did not exceed the current recommended values. Therefore, food production in sandy soils may well pose a health hazard when irrigated with TWW containing heavy metals. Complexation with dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in TWW may be to be the principal factor responsible for increased metal uptake and transfer at low salinity, thereby increasing the risk of heavy metal contamination of food and forage crops.

Ecological, morphological, and histological studies on Blaps polycresta (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) as biomonitors of cadmium soil pollution.

Soil pollution in Egypt became far more serious than before due to either the heavy usage of different toxic pesticides or aerosol deposition of industrial pollutants. The present mentioned ground beetle, Blaps polycresta Tschinkel 1975 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), showed ecological, morphological, and histological alterations in adult insects as biomonitors. Two cultivated sites (reference and polluted) were chosen for sampling the insects. The results indicated a significant increase in soil cadmium concentration of the polluted site leading to sex-specific difference in cadmium accumulation in gonads and alimentary canal of insects that being higher in males than females. The cadmium pollution leads significantly to a decrease in population density, a reduction in body weight, an increase in mortality rate, and an increase in sex ratio of the insects. The results also revealed a striking decrease in body length of the polluted insects with a marked increase in the percentage of deformed gonads and alimentary canal of both sexes. Some histopathological alterations were also recorded in testis, ovary, and midgut of the polluted insects. Our results confirmed that beetles are a good bioindicator for soil pollution, and the different studied parameters could be easily employed as sensitive monitors for cadmium soil pollution.

Prediction of soil heavy metal distribution using Spatiotemporal Kriging with trend model

Soil heavy metal concentrations exhibit significant space-time trends due to their accumulation along the time axis and the varying distances from the pollution sources. Thus, concentration trends cannot be ignored when performing spatiotemporal soil heavy metal predictions in an area. In this work, datasets were used of soil cadmium (Cd) concentrations in the Qingshan district (Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China) sampled during the period 2010–2014. Spatiotemporal Kriging with four Trend models (STKT) and non-separable space-time correlation was implemented to assimilate multi-temporal data in the mapping of Cd distribution within the contaminated soil area. Soil Cd trends were represented by four different space-time polynomial functions, and a non-separable power function-exponential variogram model of Cd distribution was assumed. Plots of the predicted space-time Cd distributions revealed a marked tendency of the Cd concentrations over time to spread from the southwest part to the entire study area (higher soil Cd concentrations are found in the southwest part of the Qingshan area, whereas the temporal Cd trend is characterized by a constant increase from 2010 to 2014). Thus, the maps indicate that the entire study area is contaminated by Cd, a situation that seems to be stable over time. STKT can reduce prediction errors in practically and statistically significant ways. A numerical comparison of the STKT technique vs. the mainstream Spatiotemporal Ordinary Kriging (STOK) technique showed that STKT can perform better than STOK when the trend model's goodness of fit to the Cd data was satisfactory (producing minimal data fit error statistics), implying that adequate trend modeling is a key issue for space-time prediction accuracy purposes. In particular, quantitative results obtained at the Qingshan region showed that, by incorporating local Cd values and distance-based dependence structures the STKT techniques produced the best prediction error statistics, resulting in considerable prediction error reductions (the level of which depend on the trend model specification; e.g., in the case of STKT with trend model 3 the improvement comparing to STOK was almost 30%). Future studies of Cd contamination in the region (sampling design optimization) can benefit from the results of the geostatistical analysis of the present paper (variogram and trend modeling, etc.).

Role of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Cadmium Uptake by Ramie (Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich) Grown on Cadmium Contaminated Soil

ABSTRACTContinues phosphate fertilization as well as organic matter amendment can increase cadmium concentrationin soil and induce more cadmium uptake by plants. Pytoremediation using non edible plant such as ramie(Boehmeria nivea L. Goud) is cheap and effective method to extract Cd from Cd-contaminated soil. Since inplant tissue Cd is bound in phytochelatin peptide which contains nitrogen and sulphur, the objective of thisgreen house experiment was to assess the influence of nitrogen fertilizer in form of urea on cadmiumuptake, nitrogen and sulphur concentration in shoots as well as shoot dry weight of 60-day old ramiegrown in cadmium-contaminated soil. The experiment was set up in a Split Plot Design with two treatmentsand three replications. The main plot was cadmium levels (0, 10 and 15 mg kg-1) and subplot was urea level(0, 5.0 and 7.5 g pot-1). The result showed that the increase of cadmium concentration in soil enhanced itsconcentration in ramie shoot regardless of urea levels. However either cadmium or urea did not changesulphur concentration in ramie shoot. Urea of 7,5 g/pot increased shoot dry weight but adding CdCl2.H2O of15 mg/kg did not change shoot dry weight. This experiment demonstrated that ramie was able to grow inrelatively high level of soil cadmium, and higher cadmium uptake by ramie shoot was not followed by anincrease in nitrogen as well as sulphur uptake.Keywords: Cadmium, Urea, Nitrogen, Sulphur, Ramie.

Impact of soil cadmium on land snails: a two-stage exposure approach under semi-field conditions using bioaccumulative and conchological end-points of exposure.

Land snails are highly tolerant to cadmium exposure and are able to accumulate soil cadmium independently of food ingestion. However, little information exists on the kinetics of cadmium retention in terrestrial gastropods exposed to an increase in the soil cadmium content, over time. There is also little knowledge about how exposure to cadmium-polluted soils influences shell growth and architecture. In this context, we examined cadmium accumulation in the hepatopancreas and shell of juvenile Cantareus aspersus exposed to elevating high levels of cadmium in soil. Also, the toxicity of cadmium to snails was assessed using a range of conchological endpoints, including shell height, width, volume, allometry and integrity. Test snails, aged three months, were reared under semi-field conditions, fed an uncontaminated diet and exposed first, for a period of 30 days, to a series of soil cadmium concentrations, and then, for a second period of 30 days, to soils with higher cadmium content. Cadmium showed a dose-dependent accumulation in both the hepatopancreas and shell. The kinetics of cadmium retention in the hepatopancreas of snails previously exposed to cadmium-spiked soils was significantly influenced by a new exposure event. The shell was not a relevant bioaccumulator for soil cadmium. Under the present experimental conditions, only high cadmium exposure significantly affected either the shell growth or snail survival. There was no consistent effect on shell allometry, but the shell integrity, especially in rapidly growing parts, appeared to be affected by high cadmium exposure. Our results attest to the value of hepatopancreas for describing cadmium retention in land snails and to the difficulty of using conchological parameters in field surveys for estimating the environmental hazard of soil cadmium.

Evaluation of cadmium in greenhouse soils and agricultural products of Jiroft (Iran) using microwave digestion prior to atomic absorption spectrometry determination.

This study determines total levels of potentially toxic trace element, Cd (II) in Jiroft (Kerman, Iran) greenhouse soil and agricultural products that are grown in these greenhouses (tomatoes and cucumbers), and the comparison with soil outside of greenhouse using microwave digestion prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination. The results show that the cadmium concentration in greenhouse soil is 0.9-1.9mgkg(-1) and out of greenhouse is 0.4-1.0mgkg(-1). Also, cadmium concentration range in tomatoes and cucumbers is about 0.07-0.40mgkg(-1). The obtained results show that the concentration of this metal in greenhouse soil is higher than outside soil samples and is below the safe limit.

Concentrations of Cadmium, Copper, Lead and Zinc in Soils and Vegetable Organs from Periurban Agriculture Areas of Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire

Production quality in periurban agriculture is question mark regarding to soil potential contamination affecting yields. The level of contaminations of soils a zinc (Cu), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) around Abidjan city were assessed. Survey was conducted in 2013 within cultivated areas of sweet potato and three locations of Abidjan distri intensities of industrial and commercial activities of which, Bingerville was the control site with lowest activities. Soil (0 – 20 cm) samples associated to that of plants (leaf, stem and root) we taken randomly for laboratory analysis. Toxic levels (> 8 mgkg Original Research Article _________________________________________________________ International -23, 2015; Article no.JAERI.2015.027 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org , Brahima Kone, Guy Fernand Yao Nestor Yao Kouakou and Albert Yao Training and Research Unit, Felix Houphouet Boigny University (UFHB), 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Cote d’Ivoire. National Center of Agronomic Research (CNRA), 01 BP 633 Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire.

Assessment of cadmium (Cd) concentration in arable soil in China.

Cadmium (Cd) concentration in arable soil has drawn broad public attention due to its direct effect on Cd concentration in food. However, there have been few studies of surveying Cd accumulation on the national scale in China. This paper collected 486 studies of Cd concentrations in Chinese arable soil. The results showed that the average Cd concentration was 0.27mg/kg, higher than its background value, indicating that Cd had been introduced into arable soil by human activity. The Cd concentrations in areas of mining and smelting, urban areas, and areas irrigated by wastewater were obviously higher than that inremote areas. Spatially, Cd concentrations were lower in the north than those in the south, and many hotspots existed throughout China due to mining and smelting activities. Most Cd in the arable soil were accumulated from external sources in all investigated provinces except Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Evaluation of the Use of Spring Rapeseed in Phytoremediation of Soils Contaminated with Trace Elements and Their Effect on Yield Parameters

ABSTRACT The experimental material was made up by the plant organs of Brassica napus L. from a pot experiment during one vegetation period. There was investigated the effect of relatively high concentration of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in soil on the rapeseed yield, the content of protein and oil in seeds. The impact of metals was defined based on the content of selected fatty acids in oil extracted from seeds. The highest contents of zinc and copper were found in leaves, lead - in roots and cadmium - in stems. The biological concentration factor values were respectively calculated for all the rapeseed organs. For Cu and Pb the values of biological concentration factor were low and very low for all the plant organs. The doses of Zn (300 mg × kg-1, 600 mg × kg-1) and Cu (80 mg × kg-1, 160 mg × kg-1) applied in the pot experiment resulted in the translocation of metals from the roots to the leaves. The doses of lead (400 mg × kg-1, 1600 mg × kg-1) did not trigger any translocation of that metal from the roots to the above-ground rapeseed plant parts, however, after the application of the cadmium doses (2 mg × kg-1, 6 mg × kg-1), there was recorded a clear translocation of Cd to the rapeseed stems and the leaves. A relatively high content of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in soil had a significant effect neither on the yield parameters and nor on the qualitative characters of the rapeseed seed. Neither did they affect the content of protein, fat and fatty acids in seed-extracted oil. The results of the pot experiment suggest that spring rapeseed is suitable for the phytoremediation of moderately heavy-metalcontaminated soils.

Response of two barley cultivars to increasing concentrations of cadmium or chromium in soil during the growing period.

The heavy metal contamination of soils is a serious environmental issue because excessive metal concentrations pose risks to the health of humans, animals, and plants. For this reason, the interest in understanding the toxic effects of metals on crop growth and physiology has increased in the last decades. A pot trial was performed in a greenhouse to evaluate the effects of contaminated soil with different concentrations of cadmium (Cd) or chromium (Cr) on barley growth and development. Two cultivars of barley were studied, Pedrezuela and CB502. Growth, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, and relative water content (RWC) were analyzed during the plant-growing period. After harvesting, the Cd and Cr contents in plant were analyzed. No significant differences were observed for chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence between control plants and those treated with Cd. In the case of Cr, a significant decrease of plant growth, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, and RWC was detected with respect to the control. The tolerance index (TI) and translocation factor (TF) were calculated. Data indicated that both varieties are tolerant to these metals; CB502 showed higher tolerance to Cr and Pedrezuela to Cd. The effect of Cd or Cr addition on nutrient concentrations in plants varied among elements and organs of the plant analyzed. The correlations between the physiological and agronomic studied traits were significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.001), so the stress induced by these metals affected the physiology and water relations of the plant, which provoked a decrease of plant biomass, especially in the plants treated with Cr.

Biorremediação de Solos Contaminados por Cádmio e Cromo, pelo Anelídeo Eisenia fetida

One of the most important environmental problems in the world is the soils contamination by heavy metals in the industrial areas, and especially the contamination of the agricultural lands. The use of earthworms to bioremediate the soils results in reducing the pollutants concentration through a bioaccumulation mechanism on the contaminants in the earthworm's body. Hence, the present study aimed to prove the biological effectiveness of Eisenia fetida earthworms in bioremediation the soils contaminated with chromium and cadmium. Concentration of chromium and cadmium pollution in soil was determined to be 0.04 mg/g and 0.08 mg/g respectively. 30 worms were added to 500 g soil samples. Chromium and cadmium concentration in soil and in the body of worms was measured at two time periods of 21 and 42 days. To measure the concentration of chromium and cadmium we used ICP spectrometry. Software in usage was SPSS version 17. There was a significant correlation between the reduction of chromium and cadmium metals in the soils and the accumulation of chromium and cadmium metals in the worm's body. A significant decline of chromium levels of the soil was observed in the days 21 and 42 during the study compared to initial amount of 0.1 mg/g. on the other hand chromium concentration of the soil decreased from 0.14 mg/g to 0.1 mg/g after 42 days. Comparison of mortality in two different time periods showed that by passing the time and by increase in soil chromium and cadmium concentrations the death toll of worms rises. The increased mortality of worms in the soil at a concentration of 0.08 mg/g of chromium, say that using the worms for bioremediation is not recommended at such concentration of chromium but using the worms for the removal of cadmium at concentrations of 0.04 mg/g and 0.08 mg/g in the soil is recommended.

Arsenic mobility and speciation in contaminated kitchen garden and lawn soils: an evaluation of water for assessment of As phytoavailability.

Emissions from primary lead smelters have been recognized as one of the mainly factor which has contributed to the contamination of soils by metals. Less attention has been paid to volatile metalloids such as arsenic (As) which accompanies lead (Pb) smelting activities. One of the objectives of this study was to determine the As concentrations in various extracting solutions using a collection of urban soils located no far away from two former Pb and zinc plants in the North of France. The procedure for the determination of As, As(III), and As(V) with hydride vapor generator atomic absorption spectrometry was described in details. Pseudo-total concentrations of As in the studied soils ranged from 5.3 to 65.9 mg kg(-1). Good correlations were found between As and lead, zinc, and cadmium concentrations in soils. These depended on the soil uses and the soil distance from the source of contamination. Because the form of As may pose a health risk to human population, its speciation was determined in each urban top soils. Very good correlations were found between As(III) and As(V) versus As concentrations in soils studied, but the results did no permit to establish a relation between the location of soils and their uses. In contrast, it was shown that the highest mobility factor and lowest partitioning index values were related to the location. The mobilty of As depended on the assimilated phosphorus (P), carbonate contents, and pH. The percentages of the water-extractable As concentrations ranged from 0.3 to 3.0% of the As concentrations in soils. Very good positive correlations between water-extractable As(III) and As(V) versus water-extractable As concentrations were obtained. It was shown that the water-extractable As(III) concentrations depended on the soil uses. The results revealed that soils for which the As was the most mobile presented the highest water-extractable As concentrations. Principal component analysis indicated that mechanisms related to the release of As depended on the physico-chemical parameters of the soils, particularly on the assimilated P, organic matter, and/or iron oxides/hydroxides contents. Finally, the glasshouse experiments using ryegrass as plant model and three soils with similar physico-chemical parameters with regard to the PCA analysis showed that the water extracting solution could be a good indicator to evaluate the As phytoavailability.

Modelling and mapping spatio-temporal trends of heavy metal accumulation in moss and natural surface soil monitored 1990–2010 throughout Norway by multivariate generalized linear models and geostatistics

Objective. This study explores the statistical relations between the accumulation of heavy metals in moss and natural surface soil and potential influencing factors such as atmospheric deposition by use of multivariate regression-kriging and generalized linear models. Based on data collected in 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 throughout Norway the statistical correlation of a set of potential predictors (elevation, precipitation, density of different land uses, population density, physical properties of soil) with concentrations of cadmium (Cd), mercury and lead in moss and natural surface soil (response variables), respectively, were evaluated. Spatio-temporal trends were estimated by applying generalized linear models and geostatistics on spatial data covering Norway. The resulting maps were used to investigate to what extent the HM concentrations in moss and natural surface soil are correlated. Results. From a set of ten potential predictor variables the modelled atmospheric deposition showed the highest correlation with heavy metals concentrations in moss and natural surface soil. Density of various land uses in a 5 km radius reveal significant correlations with lead and cadmium concentration in moss and mercury concentration in natural surface soil. Elevation also appeared as a relevant factor for accumulation of lead and mercury in moss and cadmium in natural surface soil respectively. Precipitation was found to be a significant factor for cadmium in moss and mercury in natural surface soil. The integrated use of multivariate generalized linear models and kriging interpolation enabled creating heavy metals maps at a high level of spatial resolution. The spatial patterns of cadmium and lead concentrations in moss and natural surface soil in 1995 and 2005 are similar. The heavy metals concentrations in moss and natural surface soil are correlated significantly with high coefficients for lead, medium for cadmium and moderate for mercury. From 1995 up to 2010 the modelled moss and natural surface soil estimates indicate a decrease of lead concentration in both moss and natural surface soil. In the case of the moss data the decrease of accumulation is more pronounced. By contrast, the modelled cadmium and mercury concentrations do not exhibit any significant temporal trend. Conclusions. In Europe, there is hardly any nation-wide investigation of statistical correlations between the accumulation of heavy metals in moss and natural surface soil and potential influencing factors such as atmospheric deposition. This study could show that assessments of heavy metal concentrations in natural surface soil could complement biomonitoring with moss but should not replace it since the heavy metal concentrations in mosses reliably traces the spatial pattern of respective atmospheric deposition. Generalized linear models extend established methods for estimating spatial patterns and temporal trends of HM concentration in moss and natural surface soil.

Assessment of Cadmium Contamination of Soils in Sewage Disposal Areasof Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Cadmium is a naturally occurring minor element, one of the metallic components in the earth’s crust and oceans and present everywhere. Agricultural soils may also be enriched by cadmium which causes it’s accumulation in plants and pose a potential threat to human health. Also high concentrations of cadmium in soil have detrimental effects on ecosystem as it enters the food chain. Soil samples were collected from different places near sewage disposal areas in Coimbatore where the source of cadmium is likely to be threatening the public. Twenty six samples were collected, their physiochemical properties and total cadmium content were determined. Five soil samples that showed high levels of more than 3 mg kg -1 of cadmium were identified as hotspots and their Arbuscularmycorrhizal spore count were assessed.

Screening of a new cadmium hyperaccumulator, Galinsoga parviflora, from winter farmland weeds using the artificially high soil cadmium concentration method.

A new method, the artificially high soil cadmium (Cd) concentration method, was used to screen for Cd hyperaccumulators among winter farmland weeds. Galinsoga parviflora was the most promising remedial plant among 5 Cd accumulators or hyperaccumulators. In Cd concentration gradient experiments, as soil Cd concentration increased, root and shoot biomass decreased, and their Cd contents increased. In additional concentration gradient experiments, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities increased with soil Cd concentrations up to 75 mg kg(-1) , while expression of their isoenzymes strengthened. Catalase (CAT) activity declined and CAT isoenzyme expression weakened at soil Cd concentrations less than 50 mg kg(-1) . The maxima of Cd contents in shoots and roots were 137.63 mg kg(-1) and 105.70 mg kg(-1) , respectively, at 100 mg kg(-1) Cd in soil. The root and shoot bioconcentration factors exceeded 1.0, as did the translocation factor. In a field experiment, total extraction of Cd by shoots was 1.35 mg m(-2) to 1.43 mg m(-2) at soil Cd levels of 2.04 mg kg(-1) to 2.89 mg kg(-1) . Therefore, the artificially high soil Cd concentration method was effective for screening Cd hyperaccumulators. Galinsoga parviflora is a Cd hyperaccumulator that could be used to efficiently remediate Cd-contaminated farmland soil.

Future trends in soil cadmium concentration under current cadmium fluxes to European agricultural soils

The gradual increase of soil cadmium concentrations in European soils during the 20th century has prompted environmental legislation to limit soil cadmium (Cd) accumulation. Mass balances (input–output) reflecting the period 1980–1995 predicted larger Cd inputs via phosphate (P) fertilizers and atmospheric deposition than outputs via crop uptake and leaching. This study updates the Cd mass balance for the agricultural top soils of EU-27+Norway (EU-27+1). Over the past 15years, the use of P fertilizers in the EU-27+1 has decreased by 40%. The current mean atmospheric deposition of Cd in EU is 0.35gCdha−1yr−1, this is strikingly smaller than values used in the previous EU mass balances (~3gCdha−1yr−1). Leaching of Cd was estimated with most recent data of soil solution Cd concentrations in 151 soils, which cover the range of European soil properties. No significant time trends were found in the data of net applications of Cd via manure, compost, sludge and lime, all being small sources of Cd at a large scale. Modelling of the future long-term changes in soil Cd concentrations in agricultural top soils under cereal or potato culture predicts soil Cd concentrations to decrease by 15% over the next 100years in an average scenario, with decreasing trends in some scenarios being more prevalent than increasing trends in other scenarios. These Cd balances have reverted from the general positive balances estimated 10 or more years ago. Uncertainty analysis suggests that leaching is the most uncertain relative to other fluxes.

Effect of Biochar on Relieving Cadmium Stress and Reducing Accumulation in Super japonica Rice

It is of great importance to solve the threats induced by cadmium pollution on crops. This paper examined the effect of biochar on cadmium accumulation in japonica rice and revealed the mechanism underlying the response of protective enzyme system to cadmium stress. Biochar derived from rice straw was applied at two application rates under three cadmium concentrations. Shennong 265, super japonica rice variety, was selected as the test crop. The results indicated that cadmium content in above-ground biomass of rice increased with increasing soil cadmium concentrations but the biochar application could suppress the accumulation of cadmium to some extent. Under high concentrations of cadmium, content of free proline and MDA (malondialdehyde) were high, so did the SOD (superoxide dismutase), POD (peroxidase) and CAT (catalase) activity in the flag leaf of rice. However, the protective enzyme activities remained at low level when biochar was added.

External costs of cadmium emissions to soil: a drawback of phosphorus fertilizers

Abstract In this study the Impact-Pathway Approach methodology was applied for monetary valuation of health impacts due to cadmium emitted to soil as a micro-pollutant present in phosphorus fertilizers. Due to the high persistency of cadmium in soil, and high soil-to-plant transfer rates, humans are exposed to cadmium through their diet causing potential adverse health impacts. Future scenarios for cadmium emissions to soil via agricultural applications of inorganic and organic fertilizers in Denmark were defined. A simplified fate and speciation model allowed the increase in soil cadmium concentration to be calculated for each scenario. Human exposure was determined based on soil-crop bioconcentration factors for cadmium and dietary intake rates of Danish food crops. Updated dose–response functions linking lifetime cadmium intake to the probability of developing cadmium-induced renal disease and osteoporosis were applied. These impacts were converted into monetary values by using the EU standard value of a life-year adjusted for quality of life experience. Annualized cost per unit of phosphorus and cadmium are presented, discounted and undiscounted, for comparison. Application of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) and mineral fertilizer produced the lowest external health costs, followed by the fertilizer products wastewater sludge and pig manure. The external cost estimates produced in this study could be used to design economic policy instruments to encourage use of cleaner fertilizer products.