Heavy metal and nutrient concentrations in top- and sub-soils of greenhouses and arable fields in East China - Effects of cultivation years, management, and shelter

Li Wan; Haofeng Lv; Waqas Qasim; Longlong Xia; Zhisheng Yao; Jing Hu; Yiming Zhao; Xiaodong Ding; Xunhua Zheng; Guoyuan Li; Shan Lin; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119494

Heavy metal and nutrient concentrations in top- and sub-soils of greenhouses and arable fields in East China - Effects of cultivation years, management, and shelter

Environ Pollut. 2022 Aug 15:307:119494. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119494. Epub 2022 May 18.

Authors

Li Wan¹, Haofeng Lv², Waqas Qasim³, Longlong Xia³, Zhisheng Yao⁴, Jing Hu⁵, Yiming Zhao⁵, Xiaodong Ding⁶, Xunhua Zheng⁴, Guoyuan Li⁷, Shan Lin⁸, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 82467, Germany.
² College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.
³ Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 82467, Germany.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.
⁵ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
⁶ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China.
⁷ College of Life Science and Technology, Hubei Engineering University, Hubei, 432000, China.
⁸ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; College of Life Science and Technology, Hubei Engineering University, Hubei, 432000, China. Electronic address: linshan@cau.edu.cn.
⁹ Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 82467, Germany; State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China. Electronic address: klaus.butterbach-bahl@kit.edu.

PMID: 35597485
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119494

Abstract

Although greenhouse vegetable production in China is rapidly changing, consumers are concerned about food quality and safety. Studies have shown that greenhouse soils are highly eutrophicated and potentially contaminated by heavy metals. However, to date, no regional study has assessed whether greenhouse soils differ significantly in their heavy metal and nutrient loads compared to adjacent arable land. Our study was conducted in Shouguang County, a key region of greenhouse vegetable production in China. Soil samples down to soil depths of 3 m were taken from 60 greenhouse vegetable fields of three different ages (5, 10, and 20 years) and from 20 adjacent arable fields to analyze the concentrations of heavy metals, nutrients, and soil physio-chemical parameters. A comparison of greenhouse soils with adjacent arable fields revealed that for greenhouses, (a) micro (heavy metals: Cu, Zn, and Mn) and macronutrients (Nmin, Olsen-P, available K) were significantly higher by a factor of about five, (b) N:P:K ratios were significantly imbalanced towards P and K, and (c) topsoil (0-30 cm) concentrations of the above-mentioned micro- and macronutrients increased with years of vegetable cultivation. In contrast, the soil concentrations of the heavy metals Cr and Pb were lower in greenhouse soils. Heavy metal concentrations did not vary significantly with soil depth, except for the micronutrients Cu and Zn, which were between 1- and 3-fold higher in the topsoil (0-30 cm) than in the subsoil (30-300 cm). The Nemerow pollution index (P_N) was 0.37, which was below the recommended environmental threshold value (P_N < 1). Structural equation model analysis revealed that soil nutrient concentrations in greenhouse soils are directly related to the input of fertilizers and agrochemicals. Lower values of soil Pb and Cr concentrations in greenhouses were due to the sheltering effect of the greenhouse roof, which protected soils from atmospheric deposition due to emissions from nearby industrial complexes.

Keywords: Atmospheric deposition; Cultivation years; Greenhouse vegetable production; Heavy metals; Soil depths; Soil nutrients.

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring
Lead / analysis
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Nutrients / analysis
Risk Assessment
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Vegetables / chemistry

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Lead