Effect of metal oxide nanoparticles on the chemical speciation of heavy metals and micronutrient bioavailability in paddy soil

Abstract

The effects of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) on heavy metal fate and biotoxicity in farmland soil are mostly unknown. A flooding–drying simulation experiment was conducted to study the effects of three typical metal oxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs, ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs) on the chemical speciation of heavy metals and micronutrient bioavailability in paddy soil. The results showed that the addition of ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs caused significant increases in soil pH, Eh and EC after a 90-d flooding–drying process. ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs addition caused clearly increase in the Zn and Cu concentrations in the acid-soluble fraction, Fe/Mn oxides-bound fraction and organic-bound fraction, leading to higher bioavailability in the soil. DTPA-extractable Zn and Cu increased to 184.6 mg kg−1 and 145.3 mg kg−1 in the maximum ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs concentration treatments (500 mg kg−1). TiO2-NPs promoted the transformation of Mn from a Fe/Mn oxides-bound fraction to an acid-soluble fraction. Soil Cd bioavailability obviously decreased in the TiO2-NPs treatment but increased in the ZnO-NPs and CuO-NPs treatments.