Effect of Pig and Cattle Slurry Application on Heavy Metal Composition of Maize Grown on Different Soils

Abstract

Cattle and pig manure contain useful mineral nutrients (N, P, and K) and are therefore used as organic fertilizer. However, excessive applications of manure can cause environmental problems and threaten animal and human health because these materials also hold significant amounts of heavy metals, particularly Cu and Zn. To assess the potential risk due to the increased concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Mn, Zn, and Cr) in a harvested crop, two maize hybrids were grown in pots on four different soils with three different fertilisers (urea, pig manure, and cattle manure). Both soil and manure characteristics influenced the heavy metal concentrations in the plant shoots. Organic fertilisation strongly interacted with the soils and, in general, reduced the shoot content of Cu, Mn, and Zn. A preliminary assessment of the heavy metal balance of the agricultural systems based on the intensive livestock production and maize cultivation showed that the potential soil enrichment of the long-term application of livestock manure arises mainly from the application of pig slurries that have a high content of Cu and Zn. The time required to apply an amount of metal that is equal to the initial soil content is 60–300 years for Zn and 240–450 years for Cu, depending on the soil type and the initial heavy metal content.

Technical, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of a Collective Integrated Treatment System for Energy Recovery and Nutrient Removal from Livestock Manure

“…The analyses of heavy metals on the treated effluent from the SBRs showed a low content equal to 4.31 and 14.17 mg/kg, respectively for Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ , compared to data reported for pig and cattle slurry [38,60,61], the effluent of this integrated treatment system could be considered as low impacting on soil pollution in regard of heavy metals load.…”

“…Periodical analysis of Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ contents of the liquid fraction of digestate allowed to assess the load of these heavy metals on the 452 ha available for land application of digestate. Swine slurry is the most critical slurry for heavy metals contamination [38], but in this treatment plant, only 2.5% of the total treated slurry derived from swine livestock system. The Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ content applied to the soil is similar to the initial slurry content and the amount applied is in balance with crop uptake [38].…”

“…Swine slurry is the most critical slurry for heavy metals contamination [38], but in this treatment plant, only 2.5% of the total treated slurry derived from swine livestock system. The Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ content applied to the soil is similar to the initial slurry content and the amount applied is in balance with crop uptake [38]. This applies also to the solid fraction as, although it has a higher concentration of heavy metals, it is applied to the soil at a lower dose.…”

Bioconversion of Cattle Manure by Hermetia Illucens Larvae: Mineral Content Changes in Manure and Larval Biomass.

“…Many of these are essential elements added to animal feed and play vital roles in animal health. They complement the animal's nutritional requirements and maintain proper animal growth (Dai et al 2016;Hejna et al 2018;Provolo et al 2018). However, excessive supplementation and low absorption by animals of these elements can lead to high concentrations in manure (Feng et al 2018;Guo et al 2018;Li et al 2019).…”

Terrestrial Ecotoxic Impacts Stemming from Emissions of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn from Manure: A Spatially Differentiated Assessment in Europe

“…Livestock manure is widely used by farmers to contribute to agricultural soil fertilization. Yet it also constitutes an important source of metallic elements to agricultural soils, contributing from 25% to 75% of the total metal inputs [1][2][3][4][5][6]. A systematic quantification of these inputs is a prerequisite for robust estimation of their potential toxic impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.…”