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Investigating the use of synthetic humic-like acid as a soil amendment for metal-contaminated soil

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Abstract

Humic acid can effectively bind several metals and is regarded as a promising soil amendment. In this study, a novel synthetic humic-like acid (SHLA) was applied as a soil amendment to immobilize metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, As) in a contaminated agricultural soil (pH 6.17 ± 0.11; total organic carbon 5.91 ± 0.40%; Cu 302.86 ± 3.97 mg/kg; Zn 700.45 ± 14.30 mg/kg; Ni 140.16 ± 1.59 mg/kg). With increasing additions of SHLA from 0 to 10% (w/w), the soil pH constantly decreased from 6.17 ± 0.11 to 4.91 ± 0.10 (p < 0.001), while both total organic carbon (from 6.10 ± 0.12% to 10.55 ± 0.18%) and water-soluble carbon content (from 171.01 ± 10.15 mg/kg to 319.18 ± 20.74 mg/kg) of soil significantly increased (p < 0.001). Based on the results of 0.01 M CaCl2-extractable concentration of different metals, SHLA could lower the bioavailability of Cu (from 1.26 ± 0.04 mg/kg to 0.55 ± 0.05 mg/kg), Zn (from 6.74 ± 0.12 mg/kg to 3.26 ± 0.23 mg/kg), and Ni (from 5.16 ± 0.07 mg/kg to 0.12 ± 0.02 mg/kg), but increase the bioavailability of As (from 0.31 ± 0.02 to 1.83 ± 0.09 mg/kg). The immobilization mechanisms of metals in soils amended with SHLA involved surface complexation, electrostatic attraction, and cation-π interaction. Overall, SHLA shows great potential as a soil amendment for cationic heavy metal immobilization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Mark Hodson (University of York) for polishing this article and John Jackson (Severn Trent Water) for the assistance with obtaining the soil samples. The authors would like to thank Yueru Wu from Shiyanjia Lab (www.shiyanjia.com) for the XPS analysis.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 42007128), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2022QNYL27), and the Environment Department, University of York (D017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yucan Sun & Ting Yang

  2. Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, Wentworth Way, York, YO10 5NG, UK

    Ting Yang

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  1. Yucan Sun
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Ting Yang led the design of the study, carried out part of the laboratory work, and drafted the manuscript. Yucan Sun conducted additional laboratory work and supplemented the original article. The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Highlights

• A novel synthetic humic-like acid (SHLA) with a high COOH content was synthesized.

• SHLA efficiently lowered bioavailability and environmental risk of Cu, Zn, and Ni.

• SHLA could increase the organic matter content of the soil.

• SHLA showed great potential as a soil amendment.

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Sun, Y., Yang, T. Investigating the use of synthetic humic-like acid as a soil amendment for metal-contaminated soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 16719–16728 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24730-x

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