Effects of swine wastewater irrigation on soil properties and accumulation of heavy metals and antibiotics

• Published in: Journal of soils and sediments Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 889 - 904
• Main Authors: Tian, Liu, Sun, Hongyong, Dong, Xinliang, Wang, Jintao, Huang, Yali, Sun, Shiyou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accumulation; Animal wastes; Antibiotics; Arid regions; Cadmium; Chlortetracycline; Chromium; Contamination; Copper; Correlation analysis; Depth profiling; Doxycycline; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecological effects; Ecological risk assessment; Environment; Environmental Physics; Fertility; Groundwater; Groundwater irrigation; Groundwater pollution; Heavy metals; Irrigation; Metals; Mineral nutrients; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Organic matter; Organic phosphorus; Organic soils; Oxytetracycline; Phosphorus; Potassium; Quotients; Salinization; Sec 5 • Soil and Landscape Ecology • Research Article; Soil contamination; Soil fertility; Soil investigations; Soil nutrients; Soil organic matter; Soil pollution; Soil properties; Soil salinity; Soil salinization; Soil Science & Conservation; Soils; Swine; Wastewater; Wastewater irrigation; Wastewater reuse; Water reuse; Water shortages; Zinc; Wastewater irrigation; Swine wastewater; Tetracycline antibiotics; Soil properties; Heavy metals
• ISSN: 1439-0108; 1614-7480
• DOI: 10.1007/s11368-021-03106-7

Purpose More and more wastewater is used to irrigate in many regions as an alternative resources due to the growing shortage of global water. However, little documented investigations are presented about the effects of wastewater irrigation on deep profile soil. The aim of this study was to investigate the vertical effect for soil properties, heavy metals, and antibiotics after swine wastewater irrigation in Hebei Province, China. Methods Soil samples were collected with 300-cm depth from three sites where the wastewater irrigation was used for different years (1 year, 3 years, and 5 years). The soil properties, heavy metals, and antibiotics were determined and their correlation was analyzed. The ecological risk of heavy metals and antibiotics was evaluated. Results The results showed that the soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were higher in plots irrigated by wastewater than those in the control plots irrigated by the groundwater at 0–20-cm depth soil, which increased by 34.9–64.9%, 40.7–57.2%, 67.6–390.0%, and 35.4–240.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the soil salinity in deep soil increased compared with the control, which might pose high risks to the soil salinization. The accumulation of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) in the soil were higher than that in the control, with the increase range from 0.75 to 222.6%. The detected frequency of tetracycline antibiotics (chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, and doxycycline) was much higher in the soil with 5-year wastewater irrigation than that irrigated for 1 and 3 years. Heavy metals and antibiotics were detected in deep soil (> 100 cm), and they may migrate downward and cause groundwater pollution. The results of geoaccumulation index of heavy metals and antibiotics risk quotient revealed that the pollution in swine wastewater irrigation area were low. Correlation analysis showed that the accumulation of heavy metals in soil was significantly negatively correlated to pH and positively correlated to soil nutrients (organic matter, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus). Chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline were positively correlated with soil nutrients, and chlortetracycline exhibited positive correlation with Zn, resulting in co-contamination. Conclusion Our results overall indicated that wastewater irrigation can enhance soil fertility, while it may also introduce heavy metals and antibiotics. However, short-term wastewater reuse could be used to alleviate the problem of water shortage in extremely arid areas.