Organic matter, a critical factor to immobilize phosphorus, copper, and zinc during composting under various initial C/N ratios

Lixia Wang; Yingxin Li; Shiv O Prasher; Baixing Yan; Yang Ou; Hu Cui; Yanru Cui

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121745

Organic matter, a critical factor to immobilize phosphorus, copper, and zinc during composting under various initial C/N ratios

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Oct:289:121745. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121745. Epub 2019 Jul 2.

Authors

Lixia Wang¹, Yingxin Li², Shiv O Prasher³, Baixing Yan¹, Yang Ou⁴, Hu Cui², Yanru Cui⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100109, PR China.
³ Bioresource Engineering Department, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, Sainte-Anne- de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, PR China. Electronic address: ouyang@iga.ac.cn.
⁵ Institute of Rural Energy and Ecology, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun 130033, PR China.

PMID: 31323724
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121745

Abstract

The status of heavy metals and the P fractions in compost affects their environmental risk. The present study investigated the effects of different initial carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios (15, 22, 27) on redistribution of Cu, Zn, and P fractions during composting. The results showed that the composting process transformed Cu, Zn and P from mobile fractions to more stable fractions. Compost with an initial C/N of 22 showed the most effective immobilization of Cu, Zn and P because of yielding greatest degree of polymerization. Multivariate statistical analysis identified organic matter as the most critical factor for explaining the redistribution of Cu, Zn, and P fractions in composting. However, the degree of organic matter degradation (organic matter content and Humic acid/Fulvic acid) better explained the change of bioavailability factor for Cu and the mobility of P during composting. This research provided guidance for providing technology to reduce environmental risk in compost.

Keywords: Fractions redistribution; Initial C/N; Organic matter; Redundancy analysis.

MeSH terms

Biological Availability
Carbon / metabolism*
Composting*
Copper / metabolism*
Nitrogen / metabolism*
Phosphorus / metabolism*
Zinc / metabolism*

Substances

Phosphorus
Carbon
Copper
Zinc
Nitrogen