Assessment of the potential for phytoremediation of cadmium polluted soils by various crop rotation patterns based on the annual input and output fluxes.

Phytoremediation potential of two oil crop rotations (oilseed sunflower-rape (O+Ra) and peanut-oilseed rape (P+Ra)) was compared with three conventional cropping patterns (rice-rape (R+Ra), rice-rice (R+R), single cropped rice (SR)) in experimental plots with cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil. A new approach was used to evaluate phytoremediation potential based on the balance between annual input and output fluxes of Cd in farmland soil. In O+Ra and P+Ra rotations, 77.24 and 62.09 g/ha Cd were removed, respectively, whereas in R+Ra, R+R, and SR patterns, 41.79, 46.46, and 23.85 g/ha Cd were removed, respectively. The balance between inputs and outputs of Cd was - 40.72 and - 25.76 g/ha under O+Ra and P+Ra rotations, respectively. Available Cd content in topsoil was reduced by 5.58% and 3.91% under O+Ra and P+Ra rotations, respectively. Based on the balance between Cd inputs and outputs, phytoremediation efficiencies of O+Ra (1.23%) and P+Ra (0.78%) rotations were higher than those of R+R (0.29%), R+Ra (0.13%), and SR (-0.38%) systems. Because crop removal is the main Cd output pathway, selection of a suitable crop is particularly important in remediation of Cd-contaminated farmland.

Cadmium accumulation in winter crops and the assessment of paddy soil phytoremediation in southern China.

Heavy metal pollution, in particular with cadmium (Cd), threatens both the environment and human health. The phytoremediation of contaminated soil is one recently developed eco-friendly technique that can be applied to mitigate this issue. Repairing Cd-contaminated paddy soil during the fallow winter period can ensure future rice production while reducing heavy metal pollution. Seven winter crops were planted in this study to investigate the accumulation of this metal in mid-level Cd and low-level lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn)-contaminated paddy soils. Results show that after 4 or 5 months of growth, all crops had become moderately tolerant to toxicity; indeed, shoot Cd bioconcentration factor (BCF) values were 37.4, 17.0, 11.5, 10.5, 5.8, 3.9, and 1.4 for Sedum alfredii (SA), Witloof chicory (WC), edible-leaf beet (EB), Cardamine hupingshanensis (CH), leafy mustard (LM), oil mustard (OM), and perennial ryegrass (PR), respectively, while shoot Pb and Zn BCF values were less than 1 and 5, respectively. And SA, WC, EB, and CH all had higher shoot Cd accumulation capacities, especially SA in which the level reached 53.9 mg kg-1. The calculation results of restoration potential show that it will take at least 5 years for WC, 7 years for SA and EB, and 10 years for CH to reach the repair target. These results show that it is possible to grow winter crops to repair soil Cd pollution, with WC, EB, CH, and SA, the best candidates for making full use of fallow periods while simultaneously achieving soil phytoremediation. The results of this study will prove useful for establishing a new summer production model by ensuring the winter repair of contaminated paddy soil.

Assessment of Pb and Cd in seed oils and meals and methodology of their extraction.

Oil seed, which is a secondary product in phytoremediation, contaminated with heavy metals should be disposed of in an appropriate fashion. In this study, heavy metal concentrations found in oilseed rape and peanut oils were below 0.1 mg kg(-1) after extractions, being found most of the heavy metals in meals rather in oils. Extraction experiments were carried out to determine the optimum methodology for the removal of Pb and Cd from seed meals using K3C6H5O7, K2C4H4O6 and (NH4)2EDTA. The highest extraction of the Pb and Cd in the seed meals was achieved using 30 mM extractant solutions at 30°C for 24 h and a three-step extraction procedure. K3C6H5O7 and K2C4H4O6 had less impact on the removal of nutrients than (NH4)2EDTA.

[Influence of the river-lake relation change on the distribution of heavy metal and ecological risk assessment in the surface sediment of Poyang Lake].

Effects of river (Yangtze River)-lake (Poyang Lake) relation on the distribution and potential ecological risk of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Cd were investigated in surface sediment of Poyang Lake under different waterregimens. The results indicated: (1) the sediments of Poyang Lake were polluted by various concentrations of heavy metals mainly originated from particulates of Yangtze River, and Cu and Pb were the main pollution factors. The pollution level of determined heavy metals followed the order of Cu > Pb > Zn > Cr >Cd. The concentration ranges of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Cd in the sediment of Poyang Lake were 13.1-108.1 mg.kg-1 , 37-119.1 mg.kg-1, 29.9-129.9 mgkg-1, 13.3-98.6 mgkg-1 and 0. 19-2.77 mg.kg-1 during the wet period, and 3.05-69.7 mg.kg-1, 27.5-105 mgkg-1, 18.8-95.4 mg.kg-1, 7.34-70 mg.kg- and 0.033-0.406 mg.kg-1 during the dry period respectively. The region with the highest heavy metal concentrations was located in water input area of the " Five River" and water output area of " Hukou" ; (2)The regions with high risk of heavy metals in sediment were mainly located in the area of the trail of "Five Rivers" during the wet period; while during the dry period, the area with high risk of heavy metals in sediment enlarged, which was not only limited in the area of the trail of "Five Rivers", but also enlarged northwards. The potential ecological risk of "Hukou" was relatively high, however, the potential ecological risk of the sediment in the whole lake during the dry period was lower than that during the wet period. (3) With the change of river-lake relation, water level rose, the maintaining time was shortened during the wet period, the dry season appeared ahead of schedule, the transformation course of Poyang Lake from "Lake morphology" to " River morphology" increased, and the typical river properties were enhanced, which resulted in the decreased potential ecological risk of heavy metals in sediment of the whole lake, however, the area of high risk-region was enlarged northwards.