Rocco, C., D. Agrelli, M. Tafuro, A.G. Caporale, and P. Adamo.
Italian Journal of Agronomy 13(S1):16-22(2018)

A combination of single and sequential chemical extractions was proposed to assess the mobility and plant availability of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in contaminated agricultural soils under remediation. The approach was tested in two pilot sites potentially affected by Cu and Zn, before and one year after phytoremediation treatment with Eucalyptus camedulensis L. and Populus nigra L. Specifically, 1 mol/L ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) (readily soluble and phytoavailable PTEs) and 0.05 mol/L EDTA at pH 7 (potentially phytoavailable PTEs) single extractions, and the EU-BCR sequential scheme (presumed main geochemical PTE forms) were applied. In the study sites overall, estimation of PTE bioavailability by standardized chemical extractions appeared to be effective in monitoring the Zn and Cu plant-available fractions as well as the trend and effectiveness of phytoremediation treatment. One year from planting, a significant reduction in Cu and Zn bioavailable amounts in soil was observed (for NH₄NO₃: from 19-60% for Cu and 43-92% for Zn; for EDTA: from 4-27% for Cu and 8-76% for Zn). Plant uptake was positively related with the bioavailability of PTEs in soil, with a general underestimation of Zn extracted in ammonium nitrate. Both single and sequential extractions suggested a higher mobility of Zn with respect to Cu in soil. https://agronomy.it/index.php/agro/article/download/1348/1026/