Gypsum mining spoil improves plant emergence and growth in soils polluted with potentially harmful elements
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
García Robles, Helena; Navarro, Francisco B.; Martín Peinado, Francisco José; Lorite Moreno, JuanEditorial
Springer
Materia
Heavy metal immobilization Inorganic amendment Mining waste reuse Cynodon dactylon Medicago sativa
Fecha
2022-08-11Referencia bibliográfica
García-Robles, H... [et al.]. Gypsum mining spoil improves plant emergence and growth in soils polluted with potentially harmful elements. Plant Soil (2022). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05639-3]
Patrocinador
KNAUF-GmbH; Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities RTI 2018-094327-B-I00; Tatiana-Perez-de-Guzman-el-Bueno Foundation PhD grant Programme 2016Resumen
Purpose Soil pollution is a major problem worldwide.
Some anthropogenic activities, such as mining, may
exceed soil capacity, causing relevant health and ecosystem
hazards. The use of mineral amendments can
help reduce soil pollution. Gypsum mining spoil (GS)
is a waste material highly produced in gypsum mining
industry, which has never been used in soil remediation
despite its high potential as amendment of polluted
soils. In this study, we carried out an ex-situ experiment
to assess for the first time the capacity of GS to both
reduce the availability of Potentially Harmful Elements
(PHEs) in soils and promote seed emergence.
Methods Soils affected by residual pollution after
the Aznalcóllar mine spill were collected, treated with GS in three different proportions, and sown
with seeds of two non-genetically related species.
Seed emergence and biomass production were
monitored, and PHE content in soils and plants
were analysed.
Results We have observed a direct and very positive
relation between GS and both the reduction of PHE
availability and PHE uptake by plants, and the increase
of plant emergence and growth, especially with the
addition of the highest doses of the amendment.
Conclusion This study highlights the promising
results of GS as a novel soil amendment to be used
in the remediation of polluted soils and vegetation
recovery. Moreover, using GS as soil amendment
will bring the opportunity to sustainably manage this
waste material and reduce its social and environmental
impact parallelly to the mitigation of PHE hazards.