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Abstract

Many parts of the world are investigating the efficacy of recycling nutrient resources to agriculture from different industry and domestic sectors as part of a more circular economy. The complex nature of recycled products as soil amendments coupled to the large diversity of soil types and their inherent properties make it difficult to optimize the benefits and minimize the risks from potentially toxic elements often present in recycled materials. Here we investigated how wheat grain cadmium (Cd) concentration was affected by soil amendments, namely human urine and biogas digestate compared to traditional farm manures and mineral fertilizers. We show that Cl- inadvertently added to soils with e.g. urine or biogas digestate strongly increased crop Cd concentrations, largely by mobilizing inherent soil Cd. This resulted in wheat grain Cd levels that could result in exceeding recommended WHO limits for dietary intake. This was evident even in soils with low inherent Cd content and when Cd inputs were low. The future of a circular economy that helps to underpin global food security needs to ensure that the effects of applying complex materials to different types of agricultural land are fully understood and do not jeopardize food safety. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Cadmium mobility; Chloride complexation; Circular economy; Human health; Nutrient recovery; Wastes

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2016, volume: 554-555, pages: 349-357
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

Global goals (SDG)

SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG3 Good health and well-being
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science
Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.049

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/80770