Simultaneous simulations of uptake in plants and leaching to groundwater of cadmium and lead for arable land amended with compost or farmyard manure

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047002. Epub 2012 Oct 4.

Abstract

The water budget of soil, the uptake in plants and the leaching to groundwater of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were simulated simultaneously using a physiological plant uptake model and a tipping buckets water and solute transport model for soil. Simulations were compared to results from a ten-year experimental field study, where four organic amendments were applied every second year. Predicted concentrations slightly decreased (Cd) or stagnated (Pb) in control soils, but increased in amended soils by about 10% (Cd) and 6% to 18% (Pb). Estimated plant uptake was lower in amended plots, due to an increase of K(d) (dry soil to water partition coefficient). Predicted concentrations in plants were close to measured levels in plant residues (straw), but higher than measured concentrations in grains. Initially, Pb was mainly predicted to deposit from air into plants (82% in 1998); the next years, uptake from soil became dominating (30% from air in 2006), because of decreasing levels in air. For Cd, predicted uptake from air into plants was negligible (1-5%).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / methods*
  • Biological Transport
  • Cadmium / analysis
  • Cadmium / metabolism
  • Crops, Agricultural / chemistry
  • Environmental Pollutants / analysis
  • Environmental Pollutants / metabolism
  • Groundwater / chemistry*
  • Lead / analysis
  • Lead / metabolism
  • Metals, Heavy / analysis*
  • Metals, Heavy / metabolism*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Plants / metabolism*
  • Regression Analysis
  • Soil / chemistry*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Environmental Pollutants
  • Metals, Heavy
  • Soil
  • Cadmium
  • Lead

Grants and funding

The work received funding from Veolia Environnement R&I and INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) de Grignon. The funders had a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish and preparation of the manuscript.