Overview
Pogrzeba and colleagues measured cadmium, lead, and zinc in two perennial energy crops grown on contaminated arable soil in Upper Silesia, Poland. This is mitigation and phytoremediation evidence: it reports soil and non-food biomass concentrations under fertilization treatments, but it does not measure bottled water, mineral water, edible crops, ingredients, or consumer-product occurrence.
Key numbers
The field trial compared Miscanthus x giganteus and Spartina pectinata in control, NPK-fertilized, and microbial-inoculum plots. Soil and aboveground biomass were sampled at the end of the first and second growing seasons.
Initial soil conditions
Table 1 reports initial plot soil characteristics as means plus standard errors, n = 3 per measurement. The text states that lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and Zn at the site exceeded Polish-law limits for food-production use.
| Plot variant | pH H2O | EC (uS/cm3) | Pb (mg/kg) | Cd (mg/kg) | Ca (mg/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. x giganteus control | 6.93 +/- 0.03 | 117.55 +/- 1.52 | 535.10 +/- 5.35 | 20.56 +/- 0.26 | 6935.67 +/- 67.86 |
| M. x giganteus NPK | 6.71 +/- 0.06 | 93.23 +/- 1.30 | 531.97 +/- 4.83 | 20.81 +/- 0.21 | 6892.33 +/- 5.78 |
| M. x giganteus inoculum | 6.80 +/- 0.04 | 113.22 +/- 8.11 | 532.37 +/- 4.03 | 21.07 +/- 0.75 | 6964.33 +/- 238.76 |
| S. pectinata control | 6.58 +/- 0.07 | 86.16 +/- 1.96 | 372.50 +/- 2.20 | 13.97 +/- 0.17 | 2778.00 +/- 23.46 |
| S. pectinata NPK | 6.61 +/- 0.03 | 83.52 +/- 2.47 | 362.77 +/- 3.13 | 13.60 +/- 0.09 | 2826.00 +/- 14.01 |
| S. pectinata inoculum | 6.55 +/- 0.07 | 78.70 +/- 1.55 | 366.97 +/- 2.58 | 13.64 +/- 0.09 | 2831.67 +/- 5.24 |
Biomass accumulation patterns
The abstract reports that Cd, Pb, and Zn concentrations were measured in plant shoots along with biomass yield, water content, and macronutrients at the end of each of the first two growing seasons. The authors report that Miscanthus x giganteus produced higher biomass yield than Spartina pectinata; higher heavy-metal content influenced macronutrient status, especially nitrogen and potassium; and drought-driven senescence in the second growing season reduced concentrations of all elements except Pb.
Figure 3 and Table 2 show normalized biomass-composition patterns across treatment/year combinations. In 2014, the highest heavy-metal accumulation was observed mostly for microbial-inoculum-treated plants. In 2015, the paper reports an inconsistent pattern with increased Pb concentration in Spartina pectinata, while Cd and Zn decreased with the second-season senescence pattern.
Table 3 reports three-way ANOVA for plant species, year, and fertilization. Species and year produced significant differences across the investigated biomass parameters. Fertilization significantly affected Mg and Zn concentration, while the combined plant x year x fertilization interaction produced significant changes for N, Pb, and Zn.
Methods (brief)
The trial was established in May 2014 on heavy-metal-contaminated arable land in Bytom, Upper Silesia, Poland. Each species was grown in control, NPK-fertilized, or microbial-inoculum-treated plots. Forty-nine plants were planted per 16 m2 plot, and stems were sampled from randomized plot sections in September 2014 and September 2015.
Soil pH and electrical conductivity were measured by electrode methods. Plant material was washed, dried at 105 degrees C, ground, mineralized in a microwave system using nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, and analyzed by ICP-OES for Pb, Cd, Zn, and macronutrients. Statistics included PCA, Fisher LSD, and three-way ANOVA in Statistica.
Implications
Mitigation: The source supports the mitigation/remediation dimension for contaminated agricultural land and non-food biomass production. It is useful for discussions of crop selection, fertilization, microbial inocula, and separating remediation biomass data from edible-product contamination evidence.
Related evidence
Update history
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