Atmospheric contribution to boron enrichment in aboveground wheat tissues

•Higher concentration of boron in aerial wheat tissues was observed in an industrial area.•Atmosphere has a substantial contribution of boron in aerial wheat tissues.•Translocation coefficient was used to estimate the effect of atmosphere on boron accumulation in wheat.•Atmospheric boron due to industrial emission predominated boron pollution in wheat.•Boron-bearing industries elevated boron concentration of wheat in Yangtze River Delta by 28-53%.

Boron is an essential trace element for all organisms and has both beneficial and harmful biological functions. A particular amount of boron is discharged into the environment every year because of industrial activities; however, the effects of environmental boron emissions on boron accumulation in cereals has not yet been estimated. The present study characterized the accumulation of boron in wheat under different ecological conditions in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) area. This study aimed to estimate the effects of atmospheric boron that is associated with industrial activities on boron accumulation in wheat. The results showed that the concentrations of boron in aboveground wheat tissues from the highly industrialized region were significantly higher than those from the agriculture-dominated region, even though there was no significant difference in boron content in soils. Using the model based on the translocation coefficients of boron in the soil-wheat system, we estimated that the contribution of atmosphere to boron accumulation in wheat straw in the highly industrialized region exceeded that in the agriculture-dominated region by 36%. In addition, from the environmental implication of the model, it was estimated that the development of boron-utilizing industries had elevated the concentration of boron in aboveground wheat tissues by 28-53%.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (295KB)Download full-size image