Award details

Soil protection and remediation by chemical and biological approaches

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004174
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Stephen Paul McGrath
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,433,306
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1999
End date	31/03/2008
Duration	108 months

Abstract

1. Chemical pollution assessment. There is often no relation between the total concentration of a pollutant and any adverse biological effects. We aim to identify the soil factors that contribute to pollutant solubility and model these so that they can be predicted using standard soil information. 2. Biological pollution assessment. Ecotoxicological methods for measuring effects of pollutants on soil systems in soil are poorly developed, and new molecular tools can also be applied. New methods are developed, with emphasis on understanding the molecular and ecological basis of these. Gradients of well characterised long-term equilibrated metal pollutants are available to us, making it possible to examine the robustness and sensitivity of various methods for measuring effects on: single species, microbial communities and microbially-mediated processes. These will be related to the metal exposure on a fundamental basis, derived from 1 above. 3. Soil remediation. Having used the above tools to make an assessment and decide whether soil is polluted, or is a threat to offsite receptors through mobility into groundwater or dispersal of dust, we seek to extract, break down or immobilise the pollutants. For heavy metals, phytoextraction and immobilisation are possible strategies. This work focuses on the basic properties of hyperaccumulation, although non-hyperaccumulating plants will be used for comparative purposes. At present, the distinctive physiological or biochemical properties that distinguish hyperaccumulator from non-hyperaccumulator species are not understood. In the case of organic pollutants immobilisation and biodegradation are applicable, depending on the nature of the compounds. The aims are to either decrease their concentrations, or where this is not possible, to decrease their bioavailability and environmental mobility.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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