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Plant Availability and Uptake of Lead, Zinc, and Cadmium in Soils Contaminated with Anti-corrosion Paint from Pylons in Comparison to Heavy Metal Contaminated Urban Soils

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Abstract

Red lead (Pb3O4) has been used extensively in the past as an anti-corrosion paint for the protection of steel constructions. Prominent examples being some of the 200,000 high-voltage pylons in Germany which have been treated with red lead anti-corrosion paints until about 1970. Through weathering and maintenance work, paint compounds and particles are deposited on the soils beneath these constructions. In the present study, six such “pylon soils” were investigated in order to characterize the plant availability and plant uptake of Pb, Cd, and Zn. For comparison, three urban soils with similar levels of heavy metal contamination were included. One phase extractions with 1 M NH4NO3, sequential extractions (seven steps), and extractions at different soil pH were used to evaluate the heavy metal binding forms in the soil and availability to plants. Greenhouse experiments were conducted to determine heavy metal uptake by Lolium multiflorum and Lactuca sativa var. crispa in untreated and limed red lead paint contaminated soils. Concentrations of Pb and Zn in the pylon soils were elevated with maximum values of 783 mg Pb kg−1 and 635 Zn mg kg−1 while the soil Cd content was similar to nearby reference soils. The pylon soils were characterized by exceptionally high proportions of NH4NO3-extractable Pb reaching up to 17% of total Pb. Even if the relatively low pH of the soils is considered (pH 4.3–4.9), this appears to be a specific feature of the red lead contamination since similarly contaminated urban soils have to be acidified to pH 2.5 to achieve a similarly high Pb extractability. The Pb content in L. multiflorum shoots reached maximum values of 73 mg kg−1 after a cultivation time of 4 weeks in pylon soil. Lime amendment reduced the plant uptake of Pb and Zn significantly by up to 91%. But L. sativa var. crispa cultivated on soils limed to neutral pH still contained critical Pb concentrations (up to 0.6 mg kg−1 fresh weight). Possible mechanisms for the exceptionally high plant availability of soil Pb derived from red lead paint are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Gabriele Brand, Department of Biology, and Marianne Grupe, Department of Soil Science and Soil Conservation, Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe, University of Applied Sciences, branch Höxter for facility and financial support. Dietmar Barkowski is acknowledged for details provided about the contaminated sites. The authors appreciate the laboratory and greenhouse support provided by the staff of the physical–geographical laboratory and the Botanical Garden of the Ruhr-University Bochum. We would also like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments that have helped to improve this paper.

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  1. Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology, Institute of Geography, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Marcel Brokbartold, Mareike Wischermann & Bernd Marschner

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Brokbartold, M., Wischermann, M. & Marschner, B. Plant Availability and Uptake of Lead, Zinc, and Cadmium in Soils Contaminated with Anti-corrosion Paint from Pylons in Comparison to Heavy Metal Contaminated Urban Soils. Water Air Soil Pollut 223, 199–213 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0851-4

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