Removal Mechanisms of Slag against Potentially Toxic Elements in Soil and Plants for Sustainable Agriculture Development: A Critical Review

Sajid Mehmood, Xiukang Wang, Waqas Ahmed, Muhammad Imtiaz, Allah Ditta, Muhammad Rizwan, Sana Irshad, Saqib Bashir, Qudsia Saeed, Adnan Mustafa and Weidong Li
Additional contact information
Sajid Mehmood: College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China
Xiukang Wang: College of Life Sciences, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China
Waqas Ahmed: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Muhammad Imtiaz: Soil and Environmental Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Allah Ditta: Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir (U), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan
Muhammad Rizwan: Institute of Soil Science, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46600, Pakistan
Sana Irshad: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430070, China
Saqib Bashir: Department of Soil and Environmental Science, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan 32200, Pakistan
Qudsia Saeed: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling 712100, China
Adnan Mustafa: National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Weidong Li: College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Potentially toxic element (PTE) pollution is a major abiotic stress, which reduces plant growth and affects food quality by entering the food chain, and ultimately poses hazards to human health. Currently, the use of slag in PTE-contaminated soils has been reported to reduce PTEs and toxicity in plants. This review highlights the role of slag used as a fertilizer for better crop production and sustainable agricultural development. The application of slag increased the growth, yield, and quality of crops under PTE toxicity. The mechanisms followed by slag are the immobilization of PTEs in the soil, enhancement of soil pH, changes in the redox state of PTEs, and positive changes in soil physicochemical and biological properties under PTE toxicity. Nevertheless, these processes are influenced by the plant species, growth conditions, imposition length of stress, and type of slag used. The current review provides an insight into improving plant tolerance to PTE toxicity by slag-based fertilizer application and highlights the theoretical basis for applying slag in PTE-contaminated environments worldwide.

Keywords: slag; immobilization; plant; potentially toxic elements; tolerance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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