Effects of sewage sludge application on unfertile tropical soils evaluated by multiple approaches: A field experiment in a commercial Eucalyptus plantation

Author(s):Show less -

Abreu-Junior, Cassio Hamilton ^[1] ; de Lima Brossi, Maria Julia ^[2] ; Monteiro, Regina Teresa ^[1] ; Silveira Cardoso, Paulo Henrique ^[1] ; Mandu, Thays da Silva ^[1] ; Rodrigues Nogueira, Thiago Assis ^[3] ; Ganga, Antonio ^[4] ; Filzmoser, Peter ^[5] ; de Oliveira, Fernando Carvalho ^{[6, 7]} ; Firme, Lucia Pittol ^{[6, 7]} ; He, Zhenli ^[8] ; Capra, Gian Franco ^{[9, 10]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Nucl Energy Agr, BR-13400970 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Groningen, Gelifes Microbial Ecol Cluster, NL-9747 AG Groningen - Netherlands

^[3] Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Plant Protect Rural Engn & Soils, Sch Engn, BR-15 38500 Ilha Solteira, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sassari, Dipartimento Agr, Via Colombo 1, I-08100 Nuoro - Italy

^[5] Vienna Univ Technol, CSTAT Computat Stat, Inst Stat & Math Methods Econ, Wiedner Hauptstr 8-10, A-1040 Vienna - Austria

^[6] Biossolido Agr & Ambiente Ltda, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[7] Biossolo Serv Agron & Ambientais Ltda, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[8] Univ Florida, Inst Food & Agr Sci, Indian River Res & Educ Ctr, Ft Pierce, FL 34945 - USA

^[9] Univ Sassari, Dipartimento Architettura Design & Urbanist, Via Colombo 1, I-08100 Nuoro - Italy

^[10] Univ Sassari, Desertificat Res Ctr, Viale Italia 39, I-07100 Sassari - Italy

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Science of The Total Environment; v. 655, p. 1457-1467, MAR 10 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

Sewage sludge (SS) reuse in forest plantation as soil fertilizer/amendment has tremendously increased in recent years. However, SS may have high concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE), representing a potential risk for soil and the whole ecosystem. This paper was aimed to assess the toxicity of PTE in unfertile tropical soils amended with SS in a commercial Eucalyptus plantation, with an integrated multiple approaches combining: i) the use of a battery of bioassays (Daphnia magna, Pseudokcrichirella subcapitata, Lactuca sativa, and Allium cepa); and ii) the evaluation of some PTE (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and their availability into the pedoenvironment. Differences in total and available PTE between SS doses and time of treatments were evaluated using ANOVA; correlations between PTE and bioassays by a sparse partial robust M-regression (SPRM), while multiple correlations among parameters were performed by principal factor analysis (PFA). Results show that PTE contents in soils tended to increase with SS application doses. However this cannot be assumed as a general rule since in all the investigated treatments the PTE concentrations were consistently below both soil natural background concentrations and quality reference values. Bioassays showed a generalized low eco- and genotoxicity of SS with an increase in toxicity at increasing SS doses but with a clear decreasing trend as time went by. A. cepa was the most sensitive bioassay followed by P. subcapitata > D. magna > L. sativa. Overall, the results indicate that in realistic open field conditions SS risk may be lower than expected due to dynamic decrease in PTE toxicity with time after application. This study has an important implication that open-field trials should be strongly encouraged for evaluating environmental risk of SS application in forestry. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/26375-1 - INCLUSION OF TOXIC ELEMENTS IN THE DRIS AND CND FUNCTIONS FOR THE EVALUATION OF EUCALYPTUS NUTRITIONAL STATUS
• Grantee: Paulo Henrique Silveira Cardoso
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate