Arsenic reactions and brake fern (Pteris vittata L.) uptake in tropical soils

Hue Van NGUYEN and Amjad Ahmad
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Amjad Ahmad: Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA

Plant, Soil and Environment, 2017, vol. 63, issue 2, 55-61

Abstract: In Hawaii, past use of arsenical pesticides has left elevated levels of arsenic (As) in some soils. Sorption isotherms of an Andosol and an Acrisol showed that the former required 1100 mg/kg, and the latter 300 mg/kg of added As to maintain 0.20 mg As/L in solution, the maximum allowable As level in streams/rivers in Hawaii. Greenhouse experiments were conducted on an Andosol (315 mg/kg total As), which was amended with 0, 5 g/kg compost, 5 g Fe/kg as amorphous Fe(OH)3, or 250 mg P/kg as Ca(H2PO4)2, and on a low-As (15 mg/kg) Acrisol, which was spiked with 0, 150 or 300 mg As/kg as Na2HAsO4.7 H2O. Brake fern (Pteris vittata L.) was used as the test plant. Arsenic concentration in the fern fronds averaged 355 mg/kg in the Andosol, and 2610 and 1270 mg/kg (from consecutive plantings, 2 and 12 months after As addition, respectively) in the Acrisol spiked with 300 mg/kg of As. Chemical reactions, as suggested by sequential extractions, likely controlled the availability and uptake of soil As. Mehlich-3 extraction could be used to identify As-contaminated soils and potential phytoremediation as it correlated well with bioaccessible As and with As in fern fronds.

Keywords: soil arsenic; toxicity; sorption-desorption; amorphous iron-hydroxides (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:63:y:2017:i:2:id:428-2016-pse

DOI: 10.17221/428/2016-PSE

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