The Influence of Crops on the Content of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Soil Fertilized with Manure and Mineral Fertilizers

Ewa Mackiewicz-Walec (), Sławomir Józef Krzebietke () and Stanisław Sienkiewicz
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Ewa Mackiewicz-Walec: Department of Agrotechnology and Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Sławomir Józef Krzebietke: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Stanisław Sienkiewicz: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are mainly accumulated in soil. Plants secrete enzymes that transform or biodegrade PAHs in soil. Some plant species are more effective in stimulating the biodegradation of these pollutants than other species. This study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of crop rotation on PAH concentrations in soil. Four crops were grown in rotation: sugar beets, spring barley, maize, and spring wheat. Soil samples for the study were obtained from a long-term field experiment established in 1986 in Bałcyny, Poland. The concentrations of PAHs were analyzed in soil samples gathered over a period of 12 years (1998–2009). An attempt was made to evaluate the effect of crop rotation (sugar beets, spring barley, maize, and spring wheat) on PAH concentrations in soil. The content of PAHs in soil samples was measured by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Data were processed statistically by repeated measures ANOVA. The concentrations of ∑16 PAHs were lowest in soil after sugar beet cultivation, and highest in soil after maize cultivation. It can be concluded that maize was the plant with the greatest adverse effect on the content of heavy PAH in the soil, a completely different effect can be attributed to spring wheat, which has always been shown to reduce the content of heavy PAH in the soil. Weather conditions affected PAHs levels in soil, and PAH content was highest in soil samples collected in a year with the driest growing season. This arrangement suggests a greater influence of weather conditions than of the cultivated plant.

Keywords: light PAHs; heavy PAHs; total 16 PAHs; sugar beets; spring barley; maize; spring wheat; mineral fertilization; manure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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