Effect of Vermicompost Amendment on the Accumulation and Chemical Forms of Trace Metals in Leafy Vegetables Grown in Contaminated Soils

Yu-Shan Yen, Kuei-San Chen, Hsin-Yi Yang and Hung-Yu Lai
Additional contact information
Yu-Shan Yen: Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
Kuei-San Chen: Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
Hsin-Yi Yang: Department of Environmental Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan
Hung-Yu Lai: Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: (1) Background: Trace metal (TM) contamination of farmland soil in Taiwan occurs because factories dump wastewater into irrigation ditches. Since vermicompost affects the bioavailability of TMs, the objective of this study was to evaluate its effects on the accumulation of growth of TMs in leafy vegetables. (2) Methods: Two TM-contaminated soils and different types of pak choi and lettuce were used and amended with vermicompost. Besides soil properties, the study assessed vermicompost’s influence on the growth, accumulation, and chemical forms of TMs and on the health risks posed by oral intake. (3) Results: Vermicompost could increase the content of soil organic matter, available phosphorus, exchangeable magnesium, and exchangeable potassium, thus promoting the growth of leafy vegetables. The accumulation of four TMs in crops under vermicompost was reduced compared to the control, especially for the concentration of cadmium, which decreased by 60–75%. The vermicompost’s influence on changing the chemical form of TMs depended on the TM concentrations, type of TM, and crop species; moreover, blanching effectively reduced the concentrations of TMs in high-mobility chemical forms. Although vermicompost mostly reduced the amount of cadmium consumed via oral intake, cadmium still posed the highest health risk compared to the other three TMs.

Keywords: chemical form; lettuce; pak choi; risk assessment; trace metal; vermicompost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6619/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6619/ (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:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6619-:d:578152

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

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