Method of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) compared with other soil testing methods to predict uranium phytoavailability

The measurement of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) has been proposed as a surrogate for metal uptake by plants. A small-scale experiment was performed to test the predictive capacity of the DGT method with respect to uranium availability and uptake by ryegrass. Correlation analyses were performed to compare the results obtained with the DGT device with more conventional bioavailability indices — concentration of uranium in pore water or in selective extracts. Six soils with different uranium contamination history and with distinct soil characteristics were used for the availability tests and the uptake experiment.The four uranium bioavailability indices screened were highly correlated, indicating that at least partially comparable uranium pools were assessed. The uranium concentration in the pore water was a better predictor for uranium uptake by ryegrass than amounts of uranium recovered following extraction with 0.11 M CH3COOH or 0.4 M MgCl2, the fractions considered exchangeable according to, respectively, the BCR or NIST standardized sequential extraction methods. The DGT measured concentration, CDGT, was also highly correlated with plant uptake but the significance level was sensitive to the value of the diffusion coefficient (pH depend or not) used to calculate CDGT. From the results obtained it could not be concluded that the DGT method would have an additional value in assessing uranium bioavailability.