Positive Effect of Biochar Application on Soil Properties: Solubility and Speciation of Heavy Metals in Non-Acidic Contaminated Soils near a Steel Metallurgical Plant in Southeastern Europe

Mariela Stoykova, Irena Atanassova (), Maya Benkova, Tsetska Simeonova, Lyuba Nenova, Milena Harizanova and Milchena Atsenova
Additional contact information
Mariela Stoykova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Irena Atanassova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Maya Benkova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tsetska Simeonova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Lyuba Nenova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Milena Harizanova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria
Milchena Atsenova: Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnologies and Plant Protection “Nikola Poushkarov”, Agricultural Academy, Shosse Bankya Str., No. 7, 1331 Sofia, Bulgaria

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Neutral and slightly alkaline arable soils from the vicinity of the former and the biggest metallurgical plant in southeastern Europe were analyzed for the status of the water soluble pool of heavy metals in 1–20% w / w biochar (BC)-amended contaminated soils. Heavy metal solubility was monitored over a 6-month period. The metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Ba) exhibited significant relationships between each other and exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) in surface waters for domestic and drinking purposes. In most of the investigated sites and BC treatments, metal concentrations decreased with time due to the transfer to more resistant soil pools. Cation exchange capacity, exchangeable Ca and pH increased after BC application, while electrical conductivity decreased. BC amendment led to the prevalence of humic acids (HAs) over fulvic acids (FAs) and increased the fraction of refractory organic carbon. The share of metal–organic complexes increased for the metals Zn, Cd, Mn and Ba in the BC-amended soils, and the share of free Me 2+ species decreased. This trend was especially pronounced in the soils with the lowest pH of 6.4–6.9. In addition to improving soil physicochemical and ecochemical properties, biochar application contributed to metal species in solutions that were less mobile and bioavailable.

Keywords: biochar; technogenic soil; heavy metals; solubility and speciation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6891/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6891/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6891-:d:1454126

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().