A field study of the fate of biosolid-borne silver in the soil-crop system

Lu Yang; Simin Li; Longhua Wu; Yibing Ma; Peter Christie; Yongming Luo

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113834

A field study of the fate of biosolid-borne silver in the soil-crop system

Environ Pollut. 2020 Apr:259:113834. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113834. Epub 2019 Dec 20.

Authors

Lu Yang¹, Simin Li², Longhua Wu³, Yibing Ma⁴, Peter Christie², Yongming Luo²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Environmental Management and Pollution Control, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China.
² Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China. Electronic address: lhwu@issas.ac.cn.
⁴ Macau Environmental Research Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China; Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.

PMID: 31918132
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113834

Abstract

Land application of biosolids is a major route for the introduction of silver (Ag) into the terrestrial environment. Previous studies have focused on the risks from Ag to the human food chain but there is still a lack of quantitative information on the flow of biosolid-borne Ag in the soil-crop system. Two long-term field experiments were selected to provide contrasting soil properties and tillage crops to investigate the fate of Ag from sequentially applied biosolids. Biosolid-borne Ag accumulated in the soil and < 1‰ of applied Ag was taken up by the crops. The biosolid-borne Ag also migrated down and accumulated significantly (p < 0.05) in the soil profile to a depth of 60-80 cm at an application rate of 72 t biosolids ha^-1. Soil texture significantly affected the downward transport of biosolid-borne Ag and the migration of Ag appeared to be more pronounced in a soil profile with a low clay content. Moreover, loss of Ag by leaching may not be related to the biosolid application rate. Leaching losses of Ag may have continued for some time after biosolid amendment was suspended. The results indicate that soil texture may be a key factor affecting the distribution of biosolid-borne Ag in the soil-crop system.

Keywords: Biosolid application; Environmental risk; Silver; Soil; Transfer behaviour.

MeSH terms

Biosolids
Crops, Agricultural* / chemistry
Crops, Agricultural* / metabolism
Environmental Monitoring
Silver* / analysis
Silver* / metabolism
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Soil Pollutants* / metabolism
Soil* / chemistry

Substances

Biosolids
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Silver