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Using Soil Nutrient Tests and 1M HNO3 to Predict Total and Bioaccessible Pb in Urban Soils

Minca, Kristen Kathleen
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1325176659

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Urban redevelopment has created vacant land in many old industrial cities. Use of urban land for food production, including gardening, involves human exposure to soil. This can be a human health issue if the soil contains historical contaminants such as Pb. Most urban soils are not tested for Pb because of the high costs associated with sampling and laboratory analysis of soil contaminants. However, soil testing for plant nutrients is inexpensive and routinely performed for agricultural soils used for food production. The objectives of this study are (1) to compare the ability of 1M HNO3, Mehlich 3, and Modified Morgan soil tests to predict total Pb in urban soils and (2) to evaluate the ability of 1M HNO3, Mehlich 3, and Modified Morgan soil tests to predict bioaccessible Pb in urban soils. Total and bioaccessible Pb was determined from 65 urban residential vacant lots being considered for urban gardens and food production in Cleveland, OH. Extractable Pb was determined using common soil nutrient test methods Mehlich 3 and Modified Morgan extraction, and a 1M HNO3 extraction. The results of this study show Mehlich 3, 1M HNO3, and Modified Morgan were strongly correlated with total and bioaccessible Pb. Both Modified Morgan and 1M HNO3 are not commonly used soil tests. Most commercial and university soil testing labs use Mehlich 3 to measure available plant nutrients. These laboratories are more likely to use their existing Mehlich 3 soil test to estimate Pb. They are unlikely to add a new soil test (Modified Morgan or 1M HNO3) solely for estimating Pb. The Mehlich 3 soil test could be used as a screening tool to not only estimate total Pb (slope 1.83, r2 = 0.959) but also to estimate bioaccessible Pb when using RBALP at pH 1.5 (slope 1.47, r2 =0.965) and RBALP at pH 2.5 (slope 0.92, r2 = 0.943). Because Mehlich 3 is currently the most widely used test to evaluate available plant nutrients and because it is relatively inexpensive (< $15) it can easily be adopted by soil testing laboratories to screen samples for Pb. Our results show that total Pb can be conservatively estimated by the following equation Total Pb (mg kg-1) = Mehlich 3 Pb (mg kg-1) x 2.
Nicholas Basta (Advisor)
Brian Slater (Committee Member)
Jeff Sharp (Committee Member)
53 p.
Agriculture; Environmental Science; Public Health; Soil Sciences
Mehlich-3; urban agriculture; lead; bioaccessible; soil test; prediction

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Minca, K. K. (2012). Using Soil Nutrient Tests and 1M HNO3 to Predict Total and Bioaccessible Pb in Urban Soils [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1325176659

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Minca, Kristen. Using Soil Nutrient Tests and 1M HNO3 to Predict Total and Bioaccessible Pb in Urban Soils. 2012. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1325176659.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Minca, Kristen. "Using Soil Nutrient Tests and 1M HNO3 to Predict Total and Bioaccessible Pb in Urban Soils." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1325176659

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
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