US EPA

1338698 

Journal Article 

Role of EDTA in arsenic mobilization and its uptake by maize grown on an As-polluted soil 

Abbas, MHH; Abdelhafez, AA 

2013 

Yes 

Chemosphere
ISSN: 0045-6535
EISSN: 1879-1298 

90 

2 

588-594 

English 

22990024 

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.08.042 

WOS:000312618300061 

EDTA amendments are widely used for micronutrient fertilization in arid soils, besides their effectiveness in the remediation process of heavy metal from contaminated soils. However, the persistence of EDTA in arsenic contaminated soil may have further negative effects on the grown plants. To investigate the influences of EDTA on soil As, a pot experiment was conducted using a sandy clay loam As-polluted soil treated with gradual rates of EDTA (0, 1.0, 2.5 and 5mmolkg(-1)) and planted with maize for two months. The key findings reveal that EDTA applications increased AB-DTPA extractable and water soluble As significantly. Such increases seemed to be the main reasons behind the increase in As uptake by maize plants as the addition of EDTA at the rates of 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0mmolkg(-1) increased significantly As uptake by shoots 1.5, 2.4 and 3.0 folds, respectively compared to the untreated soil. On the other hand, As uptake by roots did not increase significantly except with the highest application rates of 2.5 and 5.0mmolkg(-1). The results also show that arsenic translocation factor (TF) values were too low to attain successful phytoextraction. In conclusion, the bioavailable fraction of As is important to investigate the phytoextraction and phytotoxicity of As. 

Maize; Phytoextraction; Arsenic; EDTA