Assessing the viability of recovered phosphorus from eutrophicated aquatic ecosystems as a liquid fertilizer Álvarez-Manzaneda Salcedo, María Inmaculada Laza, Nereha Navarro, Francisco Bruno Suárez Rey, Elisa Segura, María Luz Vicente Álvarez De Manzaneda, María Inmaculada De Phosphorus Eutrophication Fertirrigation Reuse Fertilizer Magnetic particles One of the most important worldwide environmental challenges is the alteration of the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus (P). P is globally exported from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems, causing the eutrophication of the receiving waters. In this context, magnetic microparticles (MPs) have been recently proposed for trapping P in natural eutrophicated ecosystems, as well as in treated wastewaters. The main advantage of using MPs is that both P and MPs can be recovered from the treated water. Thus, the working hypothesis of the present study is that P can be desorbed from P-loaded MPs and recovered P can be later used as a fertilizer. To test this hypothesis, the best working conditions for desorbing P from P-loaded MPs were identified; then, an experiment with different plant nutrient solutions (neutralized solutions containing recovered P and an unfertilized control) was carried out with three different plant species: Ocimum basilicum L., Cucumis sativus L. and Cucumis melo L. Finally, germination, height, root and shoot biomass and P concentration in root and shoot were compared among treatments. Our results show that the best conditions for P desorption from P-loaded MPs occurred when using 0.1 M NH4OH and using H3PO4 for neutralizing pH. The greenhouse fertirrigation pot experiment showed that the neutralized solution containing desorbed P from P-loaded MPs can be used as a liquid fertilizer, since its combination with macro and microelements significantly increased plant height, growth rate, shoot and root biomass and shoot and root P concentration. As a result, MPs can be proposed to be used for counteracting the widespread and coupled problems of the exhaustion of the P reserves and the eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems. 2023-01-24T07:42:52Z 2023-01-24T07:42:52Z 2021-02-18 journal article https://hdl.handle.net/10481/79279 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112156 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ embargoed access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional