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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #289609

Title: Effects of agricultural municipal and industrial byproducts on bioaccessible lead (Pb) in Pb contaminated urban soils

Author
item Codling, Eton
item WOOTEN, A - George Mason University

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2013
Publication Date: 3/17/2013
Citation: Codling, E.E., Wooten, A. 2013. Effects of agricultural municipal and industrial byproducts on bioaccessible lead (Pb) in Pb contaminated urban soils. Meeting Abstract. Poster presented on 3/17/13.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Lead (Pb) has been used to produce a large number of materials and manufactured products. In areas with history of lead paint use, high vehicular traffic and/or areas close to urban and industrial centers, atmospheric lead deposition may be very high. As such, urban environments in general receive high deposition of lead due to high road density, high vehicle use, industrial activity, and high population density. At low levels, Pb will impair psychological and neurobehavioral functions particularly in the young children. Remediation of lead contaminated soils by conventional methods is expensive. The use of low cost environmentally safe amendments for in situ fixation of lead contaminated soil is a promising remediation approach. In situ lead fixation does not reduce the total concentration of soil lead but changes its speciation, thus rendering the changed lead species less toxic and even non-bioavailable in the eco-system. The objective of this study was to determine if various agricultural, municipal and industrial by-products can reduce levels of Mehlich III extractable (bioaccessible) lead (Pb) in lead (Pb) contaminated urban soils. In our study, four by-products poultry litter ash, drinking water treatment residual steel slag, and leaf compost were used. Soils were collected from two urban locations: Washington, DC residential, and Baltimore, City MD residential, with an average total lead of 1099 and 1088 mg kg-1 respectively. By products were mixed with each soil at three rates and incubated moist for 58 days. All treatments resulted in decreasing bioaccessible Pb in the residential DC and Baltimore soils. The most effective treatment in reducing bioaccessible Pb was poultry litter ash. The application of poultry litter ash, leaf compost, and, to a lesser extent, Steel Slag was effective in reducing bioaccessible Pb in Pb contaminated urban soils. However, due to the high level of some trace elements in some of these by-products, as well as high salt content, one should be careful in using these materials when growing crops.