Organic residues help fight heavy metal contamination

Scientists from Russia and the Czech Republic have improved the technology of in-situ remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals. Researchers managed to experimentally select the type and concentration of a substance, the introduction of which into contaminated soils not only reduces the mobility of heavy metals, but also stimulates the soil biome to self-regeneration, and also reduces environmental toxicity to soil organisms. The research results are published in the journal Сhemosphere.

The development and search for the most effective remediators – substances that restore soil after contamination with heavy metals – is a topical topic around the world due to the fact that the areas of land contaminated with heavy metals are constantly increasing. One of the most “environmentally” safe and affordable technologies at the moment is the introduction of natural carbon-containing substances into the soil, which sorb heavy metals in the soil and allow the microbial community of the soil to recover on its own.

Scientists from the Center for Scientific and Engineering Computing Technologies (CDISE) of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, together with colleagues from the Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU), investigated three types of cheap and affordable substances: biochar (specially treated coal), humic preparation (organic substances formed during the decomposition of proteins) and ash. In the course of the experiments, the effect of different doses of carbon-containing substances on the chemical, biological and toxicological parameters of soils highly contaminated with heavy metals was investigated for 60 days. As a result, a preparation was selected, obtained from plant waste, which provided not only a decrease in the mobility of heavy metals in soils, but also had a beneficial effect on the soil ecosystem.

“One of the most promising, in our opinion, are humic preparations, which have had the most positive effect on the entire range of indicators studied, but research in this area will continue,” says Maria Pukalchik, a Skoltech researcher.

Source: indicator.ru