Photodegradation of bensulfuron-methyl on soil surface.

Photolysis of bensulfuron-methyl on soil surface was studied under sunlight and UV light. Seven photoproducts were isolated and characterised by spectroscopic methods. The major processes in the photolysis of bensulfuron-methyl in soil are cleavage of the sulfonylurea bridge, scission of the SO2NH bond and contraction of the sulfuronylurea bridge. The rates of photodegradation of bensulfuron-methyl on different soils followed first-order rate kinetics with half lives of 21.9, 28.4, 36.9, 59.2 and 47.2 h (UV) and 23.1, 27.5, 29.1, 38.9 and 33.8 days (sunlight) for vertisol, alluvial, alfisol, red and laterite soils, respectively. The differences in rates of photodegradation were dependent upon the soil texture and organic matter content.

Cadmium adsorption in montmorillonite as affected by glyphosate.

Behaviors of soil heavy metals are often affected by coexisting herbicides due to their physical and chemical interaction. Effect of glyphosate, an herbicide containing -PO3(2-) and -COOH groups, on cadmium adsorption in montmorillonite was studied in detail. The results showed that the cadmium adsorption quantity in montmorillonite increased with increasing soil solution pH and cadmium concentration as usual, but decreased with glyphosate, which is due to the formation of a low affinity complex of Cd and glyphosate and decreasing solution pH induced by glyphosate addition. When the equilibrium solution pH was below 6.7, glyphosate has little effect on cadmium adsorption, but when the equilibrium solution pH was above 6.7, glyphosate significantly decreased cadmium adsorption quantity in montmorillonite. In addition, the adding order of Cd and glyphosate also influenced Cd adsorption quantity in montmorillonite.

Effect of o-phenylenediamine on Cu adsorption and desorption in red soil and its uptake by paddy rice (Oryza sativa).

A study was carried out of Cu adsorption and desorption processes in red soil as affected by o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) in the range 0-80 mg/l. The results indicated that the presence of o-PD enhanced Cu adsorption in red soil in weakly acid media, meanwhile, desorption percentage of Cu from soil, extracted by 1.0 M MgCl(2), also increased when Cu adsorption in soil occurred in the presence of o-PD. The response of paddy rice to Cu in red soil shows that Cu toxicity was mitigated in the presence of o-PD and that the Cu concentration in rice straw decreased with increasing concentration of o-PD from 0 to 4.0 mmol/kg in soil. The fractions of background Cu in soil did not change noticeably in the presence of o-PD, whereas the effect of o-PD on the fractions of added Cu was significant. It was found that the exchangeable and carbonate bound Cu fractions decreased and the fraction of Cu bound to Fe-Mn oxides and organic matter increased with increasing o-PD concentration in soil when Cu was added at the same rate. Copper concentration in rice straw was significantly correlated with exchangeable Cu (r=0.961) and carbonate bound Cu (r=0.959) in soil. This result implicates that the behavior of Cu in soil is likely to be affected by organic pollutants containing amino groups.

Speciation and fractionation of heavy metals in soil experimentally contaminated with Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn together and effects on soil negative surface charge.

Speciation and fractionation of heavy metals in soil subsamples experimentally loaded with Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn in orthogonal design was investigated by sequential extraction, and operationally defined as water-soluble and exchangeable(SE), weakly specific adsorbed(WSA), Fe and Mn oxides-bound(OX) and organic-bound(ORG). The results showed that fractions of heavy metals in the soil subsamples depended on their speciation. About 90% of Cd and 75% of Zn existed in soil subsamples in the SE fraction. Lead and Cu existed in soil subsamples as SE, WSA and OX fractions simultaneously, although SE was still the major fraction. Organic-bound heavy metals were not clearly apparent in all the soil subsamples. The concentration of some heavy metal fractions in soil subsamples showed the good correlation with ionic impulsion of soil, especially for the SE fraction. Continuous saturation of soil subsamples with 0.20 mol/L NH4Cl, which is the first step for determination of the negative surface charge of soil by the ion retention method, resulted in desorption of certain heavy metals from the soil. It was found that the percentage desorption of heavy metals from soil subsamples depended greatly on pH, the composition and original heavy metal content of the soil subsamples. However, most of the heavy metals in the soil subsamples were still be retained after multiple saturation. Compared with the parent soil, the negative surface charge of soil subsamples loaded with heavy metals did not show difference significantly from that of the parent one by statistical analysis. Heavy metals existed in the soil subsamples mainly as exchangeable and precipitated simultaneously.

Lead phytoextraction from contaminated soil with high-biomass plant species.

In this study, cabbage [Brassica rapa L. subsp. chinensis (L.) Hanelt cv. Xinza No 1], mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek var. radiata cv. VC-3762], and wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Altas 66) were grown in Pb-contaminated soils. Application of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (3.0 mmol of EDTA/kg soil) to the soil significantly increased the concentrations of Pb in the shoots and roots of all the plants. Lead concentrations in the cabbage shoots reached 5010 and 4620 mg/kg dry matter on Days 7 and 14 after EDTA application, respectively. EDTA was the best in solubilizing soil-bound Pb and enhancing Pb accumulation in the cabbage shoots among various chelates (EDTA, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid [DTPA], hydroxyethylenediaminetriacetic acid [HEDTA], nitrilotriacetic acid [NTA], and citric acid). Results of the sequential chemical extraction of soil samples showed that the Pb concentrations in the carbonate-specifically adsorbed and Fe-Mn oxide phases were significantly decreased after EDTA treatment. The results indicated that EDTA solubilized Pb mainly from these two phases in the soil. The relative efficiency of EDTA enhancing Pb accumulation in shoots (defined as the ratio of shoot Pb concentration to EDTA concentration applied) was highest when 1.5 or 3.0 mmol EDTA/kg soil was used. Application of EDTA in three separate doses was most effective in enhancing the accumulation of Pb in cabbage shoots and decreased mobility of Pb in soil compared with one- and two-dose application methods. This approach could help to minimize the amount of chelate applied in the field and to reduce the potential risk of soluble Pb movement into ground water.

Heavy metals in water bodies purified by suspended substrate of rivers.

The equations, which are used to describe the relationships of adsorption quantity (s), adsorption percent (Pa), aqueous equilibrium concentration(c) of heavy metal on river suspended substrates and the ratio of adsorbent to water(j), are developed when heavy metal adsorption on river suspended substrate satisfies with linear adsorption equation. The results, according to the simulation from heavy metal adsorption on suspended substrates of several main Chinese rivers from a previous research report, indicated that these developed equations could describe the linear adsorption processes in practice very well, meanwhile, the adsorption equilibrium constant of adsorbent for heavy metal was an intensity factor regardless of ratio of suspended substrates to water but strongly depended on media's pH. Furthermore, the suspended substrates of Yellow River gave stronger purification ability for Pb than for Cd and Cu. When Cd was purified by different river suspended substrates, it exhibited that the order of their purification ability for Cd was that of Songhuajiang River > Zhujiang Pearl River > Yellow River, which was consistent with their contents of cation exchange capacity(CEC). In addition, we estimated and compared the purification ability of river suspended substrates for cadmium, and the resulting purification percent was 37.64%, 64.58% and 50.98% for Songhuajiang River, Yangtze River and Zhujiang River, respectively.