Yizong Huang

The effects of biochars from rice residue on the formation of iron plaque and the accumulation of Cd, Zn, Pb, As in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings

A historically multi-metal contaminated soil was amended with biochars produced from different parts of rice plants (straw, husk and bran) to investigate how biochar can influence the mobility of Cd, Zn, Pb and As in rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.). Rice shoot concentrations of Cd, Zn and Pb decreased by up to 98%, 83% and 72%, respectively, due to biochar amendment, though that of As increased by up to 327%. Biochar amendments significantly decreased pore water concentrations (C(pw)) of Cd and Zn and increased that of As. For Pb it depended on the amendment. Porewater pH, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved phosphorus, silicon in pore water and iron plaque formation on root surfaces all increased significantly after the amendments. The proportions of Cd and Pb in iron plaque increased by factors 1.8-5.7 and 1.4-2.8, respectively; no increase was observed for As and Zn. Straw-char application significantly and noticeably decreased the plant transfer coefficients of Cd and Pb. This study, the first to investigate changes in metal mobility and iron plaque formation in rice plants due to amending a historically contaminated soil with biochar, indicates that biochar has a potential to decrease Cd, Zn and Pb accumulations in rice shoot but increase that of As. The main cause is likely biochar decreasing the C(pw) of Cd and Zn, increasing the C(pw) of As, and increasing the iron plaque blocking capacity for Cd and Pb.

Characterization of soil heavy metal contamination and potential health risk in metropolitan region of northern China

Soil in metropolitan region suffers great contamination risk due to the rapid urbanization especially in developing countries. Beijing and Tianjin, together with their surrounding regions, form a mega-metropolitan region in northern China. To assess the soil environmental quality, a total of 458 surface soil samples were collected from this area. Concentrations of Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Cd, and Hg were analyzed and compared to the Chinese environmental quality standards for soil. Multivariate analysis was carried out to identify the possible sources and Geographic Information Systems techniques were applied to visualize the spatial data. It was found that the primary inputs of As were due to pedogenic sources, whereas Hg was mainly of anthropogenic source. Other elements including Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd were from both lithogenic and anthropogenic origins. Health risk assessment based on the maximum heavy metal concentration indicated that As derived from sewage irrigation area can result in carcinogenic lifetime risk due to ingestion and/or dermal contact of soil. The potential non-carcinogenic risk for children is significant for Pb and the cumulative effect of multiple metals is of concern for children in the vicinity of mining site. The results increased our knowledge for understanding natural and anthropogenic sources as well as health risk for metals in metropolitan soil.

Interactive effects of different inorganic As and Se species on their uptake and translocation by rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings

There is a lack of information on the interactive relationship of absorption and transformation between two inorganic arsenic (As) species and two inorganic selenium (Se) species in rice grown under hydroponic condition. Interactive effects of inorganic As (As(III)) and (As(V)) and Se (Se(IV)and Se(VI)) species on their uptake, accumulation, and translocation in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings were investigated in hydroponic culture. The results clearly showed the interactive effects of inorganic As and Se on their uptake by rice. The presence of Se reduced the sum of As species in the rice shoots regardless of Se speciation. If Se is present as Se(IV), then is it is accompanied by a corresponding increase of the sum of As species, but if Se is present as Se(VI), then there is no change in the sum of As species in rice roots. These effects are observed regardless of initial As speciation. When the rice plants are exposed to Se(IV), the presence of As increases the sum of Se species in the roots, and decreases the sum of Se species in the corresponding shoots. This effect is more pronounced for As(III) than for As(V). There is no effect on Se during exposure to Se(VI). Co-existence of As also increased SeMet in rice roots.

Influence of iron plaque on chromium accumulation and translocation in three rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars grown in solution culture

Hydroponic experiments were conducted to investigate the role of iron plaque on root surface in chromium accumulation and translocation in three rice cultivars (90-68-2, CDR22 and Jin 23A). Rice seedlings were grown under 1.0 mg L−1 trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) stress with and without phosphorus (P) treatments. P addition significantly increased the shoot and root biomass in all three rice cultivars. In the absence of P, the amounts of iron plaque (DCB-extractable Fe) on the root surface increased resulting in the increase of Cr accumulation in iron plaque. Compared to that with P treatment, Cr concentrations in iron plaque without P treatment were enhanced by 2–3 folds in the three rice cultivars. There was a significantly positive correlation between DCB-extractable Cr and DCB-extractable Fe on the root surface of the three rice cultivars. There were no significant effects on Cr concentration in roots and shoots between P treatments, but significant differences among cultivars were observed. Cultivar Jin 23A had the lowest Cr concentration both in roots and shoots regardless of P treatment. The results suggest that iron plaque could be a trap for immobilising Cr from environment but may not affect Cr uptake and translocation. Screening and breeding the cultivars with low Cr accumulation is considered as the most effective approach in Cr contaminated areas.

Silicon enhances resistance to antimony toxicity in the low-silica rice mutant, lsi1

A solution culture experiment was designed to determine whether Si can alleviate Sb toxicity in rice. The design involved a rice mutant with low Si accumulation and wild-type rice with normal Si accumulation. The effects of Si on rice Sb stress in the presence or absence of P were investigated. P significantly increased the shoot biomass in both wild-type and mutant rice, whereas Si increased the biomass only in the wild-type rice. No biomass change was detected in both rice type when 10 or 30 μ mol·L−1Sb was added to the solution. Compared with the no P control, in both rice types, the application of 0.7 mmol·L−1 P significantly increased the P content, whereas Si significantly influenced the uptake and accumulation of P and Sb. In different P and Sb treatments, 1.0 mmol·L−1 Si led to 6.9–58.2% and 21.4–62.5% decreased Sb content in the shoots of wild-type and mutant rice, respectively. Si addition also significantly impacted the distribution coefficient of Sb between the shoots and seeds of both rice types. These results suggest that the application of Si in rice can promote growth, reduce Sb accumulation and decrease Sb movement to shoot and seeds, which may lead to Sb pollution control under rice field conditions.

Effect of red mud addition on the fractionation and bio-accessibility of Pb, Zn and As in combined contaminated soil

Using soil incubation experiments, the effect of red mud addition on the fractionation and bioaccessibility of Pb, Zn and As in combined contaminated soil was studied. The results showed that red mud addition could significantly decrease the concentration of HOAc-extractable Pb and Zn in soil. Compared with the control, 5% red mud addition could significantly reduce the concentrations of HOAc-extractable Pb and Zn in soil after 1, 2 and 3 months of incubation [62.5, 65.3 and 73.5% decrease (Pb), 56.7, 65.8 and 67.4% decrease (Zn)]. Whereas adding red mud could remarkably increase the concentrations of specific absorbed As and residual As in soil. The result of a simple bioavailability extraction test (SBET) indicated that all treatments with red mud addition markedly reduced the concentration of bioaccessible Zn but increased the concentration of bioaccessible As in soil, while having little effect on the concentration of bioaccessible Pb in soil. After 3 months incubation, all treatments including 1, 2 and 5% red mud addition reduced the concentration of bioaccessible Zn by 53.1–56.7% compared with the control, but increased the concentration of bioaccessible As by 1.81–6.25 times. The results suggested that red mud is an additive with potential for the remediation soil contaminated soil by combinations of heavy metals, although it should be added based on the different heavy metals in the soil. Combined use of red mud and hyperaccumulators to remediate heavy metal contaminated soil needs further study.

Copper toxicity thresholds in Chinese soils based on substrate-induced nitrification assay.

Copper toxicity in 17 Chinese soils was screened using a substrate-induced nitrification assay to generate information for the development of a terrestrial biotic ligand model (tBLM). The leaching effect on the Cu toxicity thresholds was investigated. Both the total Cu-based median effective concentration (EC50) values (46.9-2726 mg/kg) and the solution Cu-based EC50 values (0.04-2.91 mg/L) in unleached soils varied substantially among the soils in the present study. For unleached soils, linear stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that total Ca and soil pH were the best predictors for total Cu-based EC50, while electrical conductivity (EC) and soil pH were the best predictors for solution Cu-based EC50. The variation in solution Cu-based EC50 was largely (R(2) = 0.75) explained by Mg but not Ca and H(+) concentration in soil solution at EC50, suggesting a protective effect of Mg(2+) against Cu toxicity in the test soils. Leaching impacted Cu toxicity differently among the soils and apparently reduced the variations of both the total Cu-based and the solution Cu-based EC50. The predictability of the Cu EC50 by empirical models was decreased after leaching. The leaching effect on Cu toxicity, indicated by a leaching factor, was not predicted by any soil properties. There is a need to investigate quantitatively the mechanisms for the leaching effect on Cu toxicity in soils.

Combined effects of chromium and arsenic on rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) growth in a solution culture supplied with or without P fertilizer

The growths of two rice genotypes (Jin23A and CDR22) under the coexistence of As and Cr in solution culture with and without P were investigated. The result showed that rice shoot dry weight decreased due to the complex contamination of As and Cr, however, the influences on plant height, root length and root dry weight were insignificant.

Effects of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi isolated from white clovers (Trifolium repens L) on soil bacteria and fungi

White clover potted experiments were performed to investigate the effects of seven indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities isolated from different test plots subjected to long-term fertilisation on soil enzyme activities, number of soil bacteria and fungi. The results showed that the inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities increased the mycorrhizal infection rate of the plants and promoted the growth of plants. The Mnp treatment was most effective. The shoot biomass, root biomass, potassium and nitrogen uptake of the white clover in Mnp treatment group were increased by 61.54%, 84.00%, 62.50% and 46.71% respectively, compared with those in non-inoculation treatment. The inoculation of AMF communities had little effect on the number of bacteria in the soil, but significantly increased the number of soil fungi. Mnk treatment group had the highest number of fungi in the soil, which was 9.91 times that of the non-inoculation treatment group. The catalase and dehydrogenase activities were both significantly improved in Mnp treatment by 28.12% and 205.38% respectively, compared with those of the control treatment (-M). The urease, invertase and cellulase activities reached the highest levels in the Mck treatment; they were increased by 142.79%, 41.17% and 77.62% respectively, compared with those of the control treatment. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the soil enzyme activity was not correlated with the mycorrhizal infection rate, but correlated with the spore number of the AMF community. The impact of AMF community on soil quality is important for us to understand the function of the ecosystems. Relevant study provides important guidance for maintaining the balance of the soil-plant system and the development of sustainable agriculture.