Abstract
Recently, incorporation of crop straw into soils is being largely encouraged worldwide. To explore the possible influence of incorporation of decomposed crop straw on the speciation (i.e., inorganic mercury/IHg, and methylmercury/MMHg) and phytoavailability of mercury, mercury-contaminated farming soil was amended with different amounts (i.e., low, medium or high) of straw organic fertilizer (SF, mainly consisting of decomposed rice straw) or humus (HU) and incubated for a month. Potential phytoavailability of IHg, assessed by CaCl2 extraction, was significantly lower in soils amended with low/medium SF, possibly due to the immobilization effect of SF-organic matter on IHg. In contrast, phytoavailability of IHg was significantly higher in soils incorporated with high HU, possibly explained by the leaching effect of dissolved HU on soil-bound IHg. For MMHg, incorporation of medium/high HU significantly increased MMHg phytoavailability, while SF addition had little effect. Interestingly, MMHg levels in SF/HU amended soils were generally lower than that in soil receiving no amendment, probably because complexation of IHg with SF/HU organics decreased IHg availability to methylation microorganisms. Overall, current results suggested that incorporation of decomposed crop straw may have multiple effects on mercury biogeochemistry in soils, which should be considered when applying SF into mercury-contaminated farming soils.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bloom NS (1989) Determination of picogram levels of methylmercury by aqueous phase ethylation, followed by cryogenic gas chromatography with cold vapour atomic fluorescence detection. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:1131–1140
Bloom NS, Preus E, Katon J, Hiltner M (2003) Selective extractions to assess the biogeochemically relevant fractionation of inorganic mercury in sediments and soils. Anal Chim Acta 479:233–248
Bloom NS, Grout AK, Prestbo EM (2005) Development and complete validation of a method for the determination of dimethyl mercury in air and other media. Anal Chim Acta 546:92–101
da Cunha-Santino MB, Júnior IB (2002) Humic substance mineralization in a tropical oxbow lake (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Hydrobiologia 468:33–43
Drexel RT, Haitzer M, Ryan JN, Aiken GR, Nagy KL (2002) Mercury(II) sorption to two Florida Everglades peats: evidence for strong and weak binding and competition by dissolved organic matter released from the peat. Environ Sci Technol 36:4058–4064
Gerbig CA, Kim CS, Stegemeier JP, Ryan JN, Aiken GR (2011) Formation of nanocolloidal metacinnabar in mercury-DOM-sulfide systems. Environ Sci Technol 45:9180–9187
Graham AM, Aiken GR, Gilmour CC (2012) Dissolved organic matter enhances microbial mercury methylation under sulfidic conditions. Environ Sci Technol 46:2715–2723
Gupta AK, Sinha S (2007) Assessment of single extraction methods for the prediction of bioavailability of metals to Brassica juncea L. Czern. (var. Vaibhav) grown on tannery waste contaminated soil. J Hazard Mater 149:144–150
Khwaja AR, Bloom PR, Brezonik PL (2006) Binding constants of divalent mercury (Hg2+) in soil humic acids and soil organic matter. Environ Sci Technol 40:844–849
Liebich J, Schloter M, Schaeffer A, Vereecken H, Burauel P (2007) Degradation and humification of maize straw in soil microcosms inoculated with simple and complex microbial communities. Eur J Soil Sci 58:141–151
Liu Y, Kong GT, Jia QY, Wang F, Xu RS, Li FB, Wang Y, Zhou HR (2007) Effects of soil properties on heavy metal accumulation in flowering Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. utilis Tsen et Lee) in Pearl River Delta, China. J Environ Sci Health Part B Pestic Contam Agric Wastes 42:219–227
Mandal KG, Misra AK, Hati KM, Bandyopadhyay KK, Ghosh PK, Mohanty M (2004) Rice residue-management options and effects on soil properties and crop productivity. J Food Agric Environ 2:224–231
Meng B, Feng X, Qiu G, Cai Y, Wang D, Li P, Shang L, Sommar J (2010) Distribution patterns of inorganic mercury and methylmercury in tissues of rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants and possible bioaccumulation pathways. J Agric Food Chem 58:4951–4958
Meng M, Li B, Shao JJ, Wang T, He B, Shi JB, Ye ZH, Jiang GB (2014) Accumulation of total mercury and methylmercury in rice plants collected from different mining areas in China. Environ Pollut 184:179–186
Novozamsky I, Lexmond TM, Houba VJG (1993) A single extraction procedure of soil for evaluation of uptake of some heavy-metals by plants. Int J Environ Anal Chem 51:47–58
Ravichandran M, Aiken GR, Reddy MM, Ryan JN (1998) Enhanced dissolution of cinnabar (mercuric sulfide) by dissolved organic matter isolated from the Florida Everglades. Environ Sci Technol 32:3305–3311
Shindo H (1991) Elementary composition, humus composition, and decomposition in soil of charred grassland plants. Soil Sci Plant Nutr (Japan) 37:651–657
Skyllberg U, Bloom PR, Qian J, Lin CM, Bleam WF (2009) Complexation of mercury(II) in soil organic matter: EXAFS evidence for linear two-coordination with reduced sulfur groups. Environ Sci Technol 40:4174–4180
Wang X, Ye Z, Li B, Huang LN, Meng M, Shi J, Jiang G (2014) Growing rice aerobically markedly decreases mercury accumulation by reducing both Hg bioavailability and the production of MeHg. Environ Sci Technol 48:1878–1885
Windham-Myers L, Fleck JA, Ackerman JT, Marvin-DiPasquale M, Stricker CA, Heim WA, Bachand PA, Eagles-Smith CA, Gill G, Stephenson M (2014a) Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study. Sci Total Environ 484:221–231
Windham-Myers L, Marvin-DiPasquale M, Kakouros E, Agee JL, Kieu LH, Stricker CA, Fleck JA, Ackerman JT (2014b) Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands of California, USA: seasonal influences of vegetation on mercury methylation, storage, and transport. Sci Total Environ 484:308–318
Yang Y, Liang L, Wang D (2008) Effect of dissolved organic matter on adsorption and desorption of mercury by soils. J Environ Sci (China) 20:1097–1102
Yin Y, Allen HE, Huang C, Sparks DL, Sanders PF (1997) Kinetics of mercury(II) adsorption and desorption on soil. Environ Sci Technol 31:496–503
Zhang H, Feng X, Zhu J, Sapkota A, Meng B, Yao H, Qin H, Larssen T (2012) Selenium in soil inhibits mercury uptake and translocation in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Environ Sci Technol 46:10040–10046
Zhong H, Wang WX (2006) Metal-solid interactions controlling the bioavailability of mercury from sediments to clams and sipunculans. Environ Sci Technol 40:3794–3799
Zhong H, Wang WX (2008) Effects of sediment composition on inorganic mercury partitioning, speciation and bioavailability in oxic surficial sediments. Environ Pollut 151:222–230
Zou Y, Si YB, Yan X, Chen Y (2012) Research on mercury methylation by Geobacter sulfurreducens and its influencing factors. Huan Jing Ke Xue (China) 33:3247–3252
Acknowledgments
Financial support was provided to HZ by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41273087), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2012312) and the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20120091120014). FJF was supported by the Technology Support Project of Guizhou Province (NZ[2013]3018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhu, H., Zhong, H., Fu, F. et al. Incorporation of Decomposed Crop Straw Affects Potential Phytoavailability of Mercury in a Mining-Contaminated Farming Soil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 95, 254–259 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1537-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1537-1