Assessment of metals bioavailability to vegetables under field conditions using DGT, single extractions and multivariate statistics

BACKGROUND: The metals bioavailability in soils is commonly assessed by chemical extractions; however a generally accepted method is not yet established. In this study, the effectiveness of Diffusive Gradients in Thin-films (DGT) technique and single extractions in the assessment of metals bioaccumulation in vegetables, and the influence of soil parameters on phytoavailability were evaluated using multivariate statistics. Soil and plants grown in vegetable gardens from mining-affected rural areas, NW Romania, were collected and analysed. RESULTS: Pseudo-total metal content of Cu, Zn and Cd in soil ranged between 17.3-146 mg kg(-1), 141–833 mg kg(-1) and 0.15-2.05 mg kg(-1), respectively, showing enriched contents of these elements. High degrees of metals extractability in 1M HCl and even in 1M NH(4)Cl were observed. Despite the relatively high total metal concentrations in soil, those found in vegetables were comparable to values typically reported for agricultural crops, probably due to the low concentrations of metals in soil solution (C(soln)) and low effective concentrations (C(E)), assessed by DGT technique. Among the analysed vegetables, the highest metal concentrations were found in carrots roots. By applying multivariate statistics, it was found that C(E), C(soln) and extraction in 1M NH(4)Cl, were better predictors for metals bioavailability than the acid extractions applied in this study. Copper transfer to vegetables was strongly influenced by soil organic carbon (OC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC), while pH had a higher influence on Cd transfer from soil to plants. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that DGT can be used for general evaluation of the risks associated to soil contamination with Cu, Zn and Cd in field conditions. Although quantitative information on metals transfer from soil to vegetables was not observed.