Effect of bone char application on Pb bioavailability in a Pb-contaminated soil

The effects of bone char (BC) application on the bioavailability of Pb in a polluted soil from Hunan Province, China were examined. The Pb-contaminated soil was treated with two types of bone char, one from the UK and the other from China. The bioavailability of Pb was determined in terms of the uptake by Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis L.), sequential extraction and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results indicate that the Pb concentrations in both shoots and roots decreased with increasing quantities of added bone char, and the application of BC from the UK at the rate of 1.6% (w:w) had the largest effect. Lead Pb concentrations in the shoots and roots decreased by 56.0% and 75.9%, respectively, whereas the application of BC from Zhejiang Province, China at the rate of 1.6% (w:w) reduced Pb concentrations in the shoots and roots to 2.04 mg kg−1 and 8.42 mg kg−1, respectively, only 45.8% and 30.2% compared to the control treatment. Sequential extraction results indicate that the addition of bone char, as a metal-immobilizing agent, substantially transforms soil Pb from non-residual fractions to the residual fraction. The transformation was further confirmed using X-ray diffraction studies.