A field study on the dynamic uptake and transfer of heavy metals in Chinese cabbage and radish in weak alkaline soils

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 23; no. 20; pp. 20719 - 20727
• Main Authors: Ai, Shiwei, Guo, Rui, Liu, Bailin, Ren, Liang, Naeem, Sajid, Zhang, Wenya, Zhang, Yingmei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-10-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agriculture; Alkalies; Alkaline soils; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Brassica; Brassica - metabolism; Cadmium; Copper; Creeks & streams; Crops; Crops, Agricultural - metabolism; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental quality; Environmental science; Fertilizers; Field study; Food Safety; Heavy metals; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Metal concentrations; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Metals, Heavy - metabolism; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plant Shoots - metabolism; Pollutants; Pollution; Raphanus - metabolism; Research Article; Soil contamination; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Pollutants - metabolism; Soil testing; Studies; Vegetables; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; China; Transfer; Radish; Weak alkaline; Dynamic uptake; Heavy metals; Chinese cabbage
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-7277-x

Vegetables and crops can take up heavy metals when grown on polluted lands. The concentrations and dynamic uptake of heavy metals vary at different growth points for different vegetables. In order to assess the safe consumption of vegetables in weak alkaline farmlands, Chinese cabbage and radish were planted on the farmlands of Baiyin (polluted site) and Liujiaxia (relatively unpolluted site). Firstly, the growth processes of two vegetables were recorded. The growth curves of the two vegetables observed a slow growth at the beginning, an exponential growth period, and a plateau towards the end. Maximum concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) were presented at the slow growth period and showed a downtrend except the radish shoot. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, and Cd) in vegetables of Baiyin were higher than those of Liujiaxia. In the meanwhile, the uptake contents continued to increase during the growth or halted at maximum at a certain stage. The maximum uptake rates were found on the maturity except for the shoot of radish which took place at the exponential growth stages of root. The sigmoid model could simulate the dynamic processes of growth and heavy metals uptake of Chinese cabbage and radish. Conclusively, heavy metals have higher bioaccumulation tendency for roots in Chinese cabbage and for shoots in radish.