The combined effect of phytostabilization and different amendments on remediation of soils from post-military areas

Maja Radziemska; Agnieszka Bęś; Zygmunt M Gusiatin; Artemi Cerdà; Zbigniew Mazur; Jerzy Jeznach; Piotr Kowal; Martin Brtnický

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.190

The combined effect of phytostabilization and different amendments on remediation of soils from post-military areas

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Oct 20:688:37-45. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.190. Epub 2019 Jun 14.

Authors

Maja Radziemska¹, Agnieszka Bęś², Zygmunt M Gusiatin³, Artemi Cerdà⁴, Zbigniew Mazur², Jerzy Jeznach¹, Piotr Kowal⁵, Martin Brtnický⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
² Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Pl. Łódzki 4, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland.
³ Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland. Electronic address: mariusz.gusiatin@uwm.edu.pl.
⁴ Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, Blasco Ibañez 28, Valencia 46 010, Spain.
⁵ Faculty of Forestry, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
⁶ Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1/1665, 613-00 Brno, Czech Republic; Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 656/123, 612-00 Brno, Czech Republic.

PMID: 31228768
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.190

Abstract

Army bases and battle fields are areas of high pollution due to the chemicals released there. Soils in these areas suffer from these uses of the land, and ecosystem services are affected. Although, in the 20th century, the production of bombs and the locations of battle fields and army bases were widespread, there is little research on the impact of war on nature. Moreover, there is a need to rehabilitate the disturbed soils. The contents and ecological risks of Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cr in the topsoil from a post-military area (north-eastern Poland) were investigated. In addition, a vegetation experiment was performed with the technique of aided phytostabilization on soils from the study area. The novelty of this study is the assessment of the usefulness of soil amendments (chalcedonite, limestone, activated carbon) in heavy metal (HM) phytostabilization in contaminated soils from post-military areas. Soil samples were also examined for pollution quantification indicators, including the index of geoaccumulation (I_geo), contamination factor (CF), and degree of contamination, and subjected to the Ostracodtoxkit test. The mean contents of the tested HMs were higher than those stipulated in soil environmental quality standards. The highest I_geo (7.38) and CF (346) values were those of Cr and Zn, respectively. The highest increase in soil pH was observed after the application of limestone to the soil. The greatest reduction in Cu, Ni, and Cd contents was caused by addition of limestone. The contents of HMs in Festuca rubra were higher in its roots than in its above-ground parts.

Keywords: Aided phytostabilization; Ecological risk assessment; Heavy metal contamination; Military areas; Ostracodtoxkit test; Soil risk minimization.