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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 #320294
Title: Effects of compost amended lead-arsenate contaminated soils on total and inorganic arsenic concentration in rice

Author
item Codling, Eton
item Chen, Guoying

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/8/2016
Publication Date: 7/27/2017
Citation: Codling, E.E., Chen, G. 2017. Effects of compost amended lead-arsenate contaminated soils on total and inorganic arsenic concentration in rice. Journal of Plant Nutrition. 40(15):2146-2155.

Interpretive Summary: Rice was grown on lead-arsenate contaminated soils amended with vegetable compost under flooded and non-flooded conditions to determine total and inorganic arsenic uptake by rice grain. This research was conducted by USDA-ARS scientist at Beltsville Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland. Rice grain yield was higher with compost application. Compost addition resulted in a decreasing trend of total and inorganic arsenic in rice grain. Flooding resulted in significant increased totals and inorganic arsenic in rice grain which was above limit set by China of 0.2 mg kg-1. This study demonstrated that soil amendment with organic matter at the rate used was not effective in reducing rice grain arsenic concentrations to safe levels; therefore, lead-arsenate contaminated soils should not be used for rice production.

Technical Abstract: Rice (Oryza sativa L.), a staple crop for over fifty percent of the world’s population, is also a source of dietary arsenic because of its efficiency at accumulating As. Pesticides containing As were once widely used in agriculture, and some soils in which these pesticides were used are now being used for rice production. Rice grown on these soils has been shown to accumulate As, and various soil amendments have been used to reduce As uptake by rice. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of vegetable compost organic matter (OM) addition to lead-arsenate contaminated soils on total and inorganic As concentrations in rice. Three arsenic contaminated soils were amended with or without 10 percent by weight of OM and planted with rice under flooded and non-flooded conditions. OM addition resulted in a trend of decreased concentrations of total and inorganic As in rice grain, but a significant difference was found only for total As on one soil. Amendment with OM resulted in higher yield of rice grain, whereas there was no main effect of flooding on grain yield. Flooding resulted in significant increased concentrations of total and inorganic As in rice grain. In most cases, rice inorganic As concentrations were higher than the limit set by China of 0.15 mg kg-1. This study demonstrated that soil amendment with OM at the rate used was not effective in reducing rice grain As concentrations to safe levels; therefore, lead-arsenate contaminated soils should not be used for rice production.