TY - JOUR
T1 - Biochar alters chemical and microbial properties of microplastic-contaminated soil
AU - Palansooriya, Kumuduni Niroshika
AU - Sang, Mee Kyung
AU - Igalavithana, Avanthi Deshani
AU - Zhang, Ming
AU - Hou, Deyi
AU - Oleszczuk, Patryk
AU - Sung, Jwakyung
AU - Ok, Yong Sik
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ01475801 ) from the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government ( MSIT ) (No. 2021R1A2C2011734 ). This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF as funded by the Ministry of Education ( NRF-2021R1A6A1A10045235 ). Standard biochars were obtained from the UK Biochar Research Centre (UKBRC) at the University of Edinburgh. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ondrej Masek from the UKBRC for his kind help in providing the biochar samples. The authors would also like to thank Soobin Kim from Korea University for his assistance with soil analysis and laboratory work.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ01475801) from the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1A2C2011734). This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF as funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1A6A1A10045235). Standard biochars were obtained from the UK Biochar Research Centre (UKBRC) at the University of Edinburgh. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ondrej Masek from the UKBRC for his kind help in providing the biochar samples. The authors would also like to thank Soobin Kim from Korea University for his assistance with soil analysis and laboratory work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in soils can negatively affect soil biodiversity and function. Soil amendments applied to MP-contaminated soil can alter the overall soil properties and enhance its functions and processes. However, little is known about how soil amendments improve the quality of MP-contaminated soils. Thus, the present study used a microcosm experiment to explore the potential effects of four types of biochar on the chemical and microbial properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) MP-contaminated soil under both drought and well-watered conditions. The results show that the biochars altered soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), available phosphorous, and total exchangeable cations (TEC) with some variability depending on the biochar type. Oilseed rape straw (OSR)-derived biochars increased soil pH, EC, and TEC under both water conditions with the highest values of 7.94, 0.54 dS m−1 and 22.0 cmol(+) kg−1, respectively. Soil enzyme activities varied under all treatments; in particular, under drought conditions, the fluorescein diacetate activity increased in soils with high temperature (700 °C) biochar. The application of soft wood pellet biochar (700 °C) to MP-contaminated soil increased urease activity by 146% under well-watered conditions. OSR-derived biochars significantly reduced soil acid phosphatase activity under both water conditions. With biochar supplementation, the diversity indices of the bacterial community increased in well-watered soil but not in soil under drought conditions. The abundance of bacterial phyla, such as Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Dictyoglomi, and Gemmatimonadetes, was relatively high in all treatments. Biochar application resulted in negligible variations in bacterial communities under drought conditions but significant variations under well-watered conditions. The findings of this study imply that biochar can be used as a soil amendment to improve the overall soil quality of MP-contaminated soil, but its impact varies depending on the pyrolysis feedstock and temperature. Thus, selecting a suitable biochar is important for improving the soil quality in MP-contaminated soils.
AB - The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in soils can negatively affect soil biodiversity and function. Soil amendments applied to MP-contaminated soil can alter the overall soil properties and enhance its functions and processes. However, little is known about how soil amendments improve the quality of MP-contaminated soils. Thus, the present study used a microcosm experiment to explore the potential effects of four types of biochar on the chemical and microbial properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) MP-contaminated soil under both drought and well-watered conditions. The results show that the biochars altered soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), available phosphorous, and total exchangeable cations (TEC) with some variability depending on the biochar type. Oilseed rape straw (OSR)-derived biochars increased soil pH, EC, and TEC under both water conditions with the highest values of 7.94, 0.54 dS m−1 and 22.0 cmol(+) kg−1, respectively. Soil enzyme activities varied under all treatments; in particular, under drought conditions, the fluorescein diacetate activity increased in soils with high temperature (700 °C) biochar. The application of soft wood pellet biochar (700 °C) to MP-contaminated soil increased urease activity by 146% under well-watered conditions. OSR-derived biochars significantly reduced soil acid phosphatase activity under both water conditions. With biochar supplementation, the diversity indices of the bacterial community increased in well-watered soil but not in soil under drought conditions. The abundance of bacterial phyla, such as Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Dictyoglomi, and Gemmatimonadetes, was relatively high in all treatments. Biochar application resulted in negligible variations in bacterial communities under drought conditions but significant variations under well-watered conditions. The findings of this study imply that biochar can be used as a soil amendment to improve the overall soil quality of MP-contaminated soil, but its impact varies depending on the pyrolysis feedstock and temperature. Thus, selecting a suitable biochar is important for improving the soil quality in MP-contaminated soils.
KW - LDPE
KW - Microplastic
KW - Nano-plastic
KW - Plastic mulch
KW - Soil enzyme
KW - Soil quality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123871084&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112807
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112807
M3 - Article
C2 - 35093312
AN - SCOPUS:85123871084
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 209
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 112807
ER -