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Removal of Cd from contaminated farmland soil by washing with residues of traditional Chinese herbal medicine extracts

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Abstract

Soil washing is one of the effective methods for permanent removal of heavy metals from farmland soil, and selection of washing agents determines heavy metal removal efficiency. However, there is still a lack of cost-efficient and eco-friendly washing agents. In this study, three residues of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (RTCHM) extracts: residues of Prunus mume (Sieb.) Sieb. et Zucc. (RPM), residues of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (RSC), and residues of Crataegus pinnatifida Bunge (RCP), were tested for their potential of Cd removal. The variations in amounts and compositions of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and citric acid were responsible for the difference in Cd removal efficiencies of RTCHM extracts. Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) analysis showed that hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine were the main functional groups of RTCHM extracts to chelate with heavy metals. The optimum conditions for RTCHM extracts were 100 g L−1 concentration, solid–liquid ratio 1:10, pH 2.50, and contact time of 1 h, and the highest Cd removal efficiencies of RPM, RSC, and RCP extracts reached 35%, 11%, and 15%, respectively. The ecological risk of Cd decreased significantly due to the decrease of exchangeable and reducible Cd fractions. RTCHM extracts washing alleviated soil alkalinity and had little effect on soil cation exchange capacity. Meanwhile, the concentrations of soil organic matter and nitrogen were enhanced significantly by RPM extracts and the activities of soil catalase and urease were also improved. Overall, among the tested extracts, RPM extracts was a much more feasible and environment-friendly washing agent for the remediation of Cd-contaminated farmland soil.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current research are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation of China (41991335).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Yi Wang, Qi-hao Wang, Han-yi Mei & Xiang-liang Pan

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing, 210008, China

    Yi Wang, Shuai Yang, Qi-hao Wang, Guo-ming Liu & Yong-ming Luo

  3. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shandong Key Laboratory, of Coastal Environment Process, YICCAS, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Yantai, 264003, China

    Yuan Li, Shao-cheng Si & Yong-ming Luo

Authors
  1. Yi Wang
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  2. Yuan Li
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  3. Shuai Yang
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  4. Qi-hao Wang
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Contributions

Yi Wang: data curation, methodology, writing original draft, visualization, formal analysis. Yuan Li: data curation, investigation, methodology, writing — review and editing. Shuai Yang: data curation, methodology, writing — review and editing. Qihao Wang: investigation, methodology. Shaocheng Si: investigation, methodology. Hanyi Mei: investigation, validation. Guoming Liu: investigation, validation. Xiangliang Pan: methodology, writing — review and editing. Yongming Luo: conceptualization, supervision, methodology, writing — review and editing, dunding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Yong-ming Luo.

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Wang, Y., Li, Y., Yang, S. et al. Removal of Cd from contaminated farmland soil by washing with residues of traditional Chinese herbal medicine extracts. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 31461–31470 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24409-3

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