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Palygorskite Reducing Cd Accumulation in Lettuce (lactura Sativa L.) and Remediating Soil Contaminated with Both Cadmium and Microplastics
Summary
Researchers found that microplastics in soil increase the uptake of toxic cadmium into lettuce plants, but adding palygorskite — a natural clay mineral — reduced cadmium availability in the soil and its accumulation in lettuce by up to 54%, offering a promising natural remedy for soils contaminated with both microplastics and heavy metals.
Microplastics (MPs) increase the available state of cadmium (Cd) in soil, which could seriously threaten the safe production of lettuce (Lactura sativa L.).Palygorskite (PAL) can potentially improve MPs-Cd co-contaminated soil, but the mechanism is unclear.PAL (2%, 4%) and MPs (0.1%, 1%) were mixed into soils with different levels of Cd pollution.After 30 days, the bioavailability of Cd and soil physical and chemical properties were determined.The dry weight of lettuce and the concentration of Cd in the shoot and root parts of lettuce were determined.The results showed that MPs hurt the growth of lettuce and increased the Cd accumulation in plant.The content of available Cd in soil was also increased.PAL could increase the lettuce biomass of the shoot and root part by 2.46%-40.64%and 2.75%-36.25%,respectively.Soil bioavailable Cd decreased by 14.15%-53.85%.Cd content in the shoot and root part of lettuce decreased by 6.12%-27.29%and 2.36%-44.90%,respectively.Regression path analysis (RPA) showed that PAL reduced the accumulation of Cd in plants and promoted the growth of lettuce by changing the properties of MPs-Cd co-contaminated soil.This study provides a new perspective for the remediation of MP-Cd co-contaminated soil with natural clay minerals.