The role of arbuscular mycorrhiza on change of heavy metal speciation in rhizosphere of maize in wastewater irrigated agriculture soil

To understand the roles of mycorrhiza in metal speciation in the rhizosphere and the impact on increasing host plant tolerance against excessive heavy metals in soil, maize(Zea mays L.) inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(Glomus mosseae) was cultivated in heavy metal contaminated soil. Speciations of copper, zinc and lead in the soil were analyzed with the technique of sequential extraction. The results showed that,in comparison to the bolked soil, the exchangeable copper increased from 26% to 43% in non-infected and AM-infected rhizoshpere respectively; while other speciation (organic, carbonate and Fe-Mn oxide copper) remained constant and the organic bound zinc and lead also increased but the exchangeable zinc and lead were undetectable. The organic bound copper, zinc and lead were higher by 15%, 40% and 20%, respectively, in the rhizosphere of arbuscular mycorrhiza infected maize in comparison to the non-infected maize. The results might indicate that mycorrhiza could protect its host plants from the phytotoxicity of excessive copper, zinc and lead by changing the speciation from bio-available to the non-bio-available form. The fact that copper and zinc accumulation in the roots and shoots of mycorrhia infected plants were significantly lower than those in the non-infected plants might also suggest that mycorrhiza efficiently restricted excessive copper and zinc absorptions into the host plants. Compared to the non-infected seedlings, the lead content of infected seedlings was 60% higher in shoots. This might illustrate that mycorrhiza have a different mechanism for protecting its host from excessive lead phytotoxicity by chelating lead in the shoots.

TiO2 nanoparticles in aquatic environments:impact on heavy metals distribution in sediments and overlying water

The extensive application of TiO_(2)nanoparticles(NPs)highlights the importance of investigating their influence on aquatic systems.In this work,the effect of TiO_(2)NPs on heavy metals speciation was studied on a lab scale.For this goal,a series of aquaria containing water,sediment,and TiO_(2)NPs with various concentrations were set up.The study results revealed that TiO_(2)NPs caused(copper)Cu,(mercury)Hg,(titanium)Ti,and(zinc)Zn to be adsorbed by sediments in the forms of exchangeable and Fe-Mn species.According to measurements,30μg/L of TiO_(2)NPs made Cu,Hg,Ti and Zn concentration in the water column decreased from 33,1.14,20,and 32 to 4,0.58,3,and 22.3μg/L,respectively.Manganese(Mn)was also adsorbed by sediment,and in all experiments,its concentration in the water column reduced from 44 to about 20μg/L.Due to the photocatalytic capacity of TiO_(2)NPs,arsenic(As)concentration in the water column increased from 0 to 8.7μg/L with the introduction of30μg/L of TiO_(2)NPs.The sequential extraction results showed that in all experiments,concentrations of lead(Pb),nickel(Ni),and cobalt(Co)remained constant in different chemical species of sediment,which meant conservative behavior of them in presence of TiO_(2)NPs.In addition,a remarkable change was observed in water quality parameters such as ORP,TDS,TOC,BOD,NO3’and PO_(4)after the introduction of TiO_(2)NPs to aquaria.The reason behind these changes could be related to the decomposition of sediment organic content by TiO_(2)NPs.

Ectomycorrhizal Fungus-Induced Changes of Cu and Cd Speciation in the Rhizosphere of Chinese Pine Seedlings

To understand the role of ectomycorrhizas in improving the tolerance of its host to excessive heavy metals in soil, this study was conducted to exam the patterns of four fractions (the exchangeable, the carbonate-bound, the Fe-Mn oxide- bound and the organically bound) of both Cu and Cd in the rhizosphere of Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) seedlings grown in excessive Cu and Cd environment. The results showed that the speciation of Cu and Cd in the rhizosphere was significantly influenced by inoculation of ectomycorrhizal fungus Boletus edulis. Compared to the rhizosphere, the content of exchangeable Cu slightly decreased in the mycorrhizosphere of the seedlings grown in 166 and 400 mg kg-1 Cu contaminated soil, whereas the exchangeable Cd in the mycorrhizosphere decreased remarkably to only 33% and to 60% that of the rhizosphere at 0.75 and 1.50 mg kg-1 Cd levels, respectively. These indicate the potential capacity of mycorrhizas to alleviate the damage of heavy metals to the host plants by reducing the bioavailability of heavy metals in soil. Distribution of the 4 tested fractions of Cu and Cd at different contamination levels showed that there was a strong tendency of changing from loosely associated fractions to strongly associated fractions in the mycorrhizosphere. The most stable Cd fraction, organically bound Cd, was significantly larger in the mycorrhizosphere than in the rhizosphere at different Cd contamination levels. This phenomenon was also observed for Cu but the difference was not statistically significant.

Sequential Speciation Analysis of Heavy Metals in Drinking Water Pipe Scales by Mass Spectrometry

An electrochemical mass spectrometry technique was developed based on a homemade analytical device for sequential analysis of the heavy metals with various speciations in the scales.Four speciations(e.g.,water-soluble speciation,organic speciation,indissoluble speciation and elemental speciation)of heavy metals are sequentially extracted by H_(2)O,CH_(3)OH,EDTA-2Na and electrolysis for online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(ESI-MS)detection.The method takes significant advantages,such as requiring no tedious offline sample pretreatment,high speed of analysis(20 min),high throughput(multi-metals),good sensitivity(0.5µg/L)and rich chemical information(four speciations).As a result,the rapid comprehensive characterization of four speciations of Pb,Ni,Cu,Zn,Fe,Ba,Mn,Cr and Ca in water pipe scales has been qualitatively achieved.It demonstrated that the present method is a powerful tool for the effective assessment of potential hazards in drinking water,which provides a new analytical idea for evaluating water quality.

Distribution and Transport of Residual Lead and Copper Along Soil Pro?les in a Mining Region of North China

Residual heavy metals are commonly considered to be immobile in soils,leading to an underestimation of their environmental risk.This study investigated the distribution and transport of residual heavy metals along soil pro?les,using the Xiaoqinling gold mining region in North China as a case study.Soil samples were collected at three depths from three locations near the tailing heap.The speciation of copper(Cu) and lead(Pb)(exchangeable,carbonate-bound,Fe-Mn oxide-bound,organic matter-bound,and residual fractions) was determined using a sequential extraction procedure.The residual fraction's morphology was observed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM).Results showed that metal fraction distributions along the soil pro?les were in?uenced by each fraction's mobility.Residual fraction with high chemical stability can not be transformed from or into other fractions.This led to the conclusion that the high concentration of residual metals in soils mainly resulted from residual fraction transport.The SEM analysis showed that ?ne particles(submicrons) were mainly attached to large particles and were likely released and transported by water?ow.The more sorptive fractions(non-residual fractions) were mainly retained in the top soil,and the more mobile fractions(residual fraction) were mainly leached to the deep soil.Cu and Pb concentrations in the residual fraction decreased slightly and those in the non-residual fractions decreased signi?cantly with soil depth.These suggest a relatively higher residual metal mobility along the soil pro?les.Therefore,residual metals can be transported in soils and their environmental risk can not be ignored in assessing soil contamination.