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Journal of Soil and Water Science
Open Access | Page 236 |
Vol 6 | Issue 1 | Pages 236-243
ISSN: 2643-5799
Copyright: © 2022 Tate JO, et al. This is an open-access artcle distributed under the terms of
the Creatve Commons Atributon License, which permits unrestricted use, distributon, and
reproducton in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
DOI: 10.36959/624/450
*Corresponding author: Kelvin Harrison Diri, Department of
Crop and Soil science, Faculty of Agriculture, Niger Delta Uni-
versity, Wilberforce Island, P.M.B 071, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State,
Nigeria, Tel: +2348137967515
Accepted: March 07, 2022
Published online: March 09, 2022
Citaton: Tate JO, Dickson AA, Diri KH (2022) Infuence of Local-
ly Pyrolysed Wood and Catle Dung Biochar on Macronutrients
Distributon and Heavy Metal Toxicity in Diesel Contaminated
Soils. J Soil Water Sci 6(1):236-243
SCHOLARS. DIRECT
Infuence of Locally Pyrolysed Wood and Cattle Dung
Biochar on Macronutrients Distribution and Heavy Metal
Toxicity in Diesel Contaminated Soils
Joseph O Tate
1
iD
, Achimota A Dickson1 and Kelvin Harrison Diri
1*
iD
Department of Crop and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria
Research Article
Abstract
A greenhouse study was conducted to assess the infuence of locally pyrolysed feedstock in the mineralizaton of
Potassium (K), Phosphorus (P) and Magnesium (Mg) and toxicity of Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) heavy metals in soil.
Separate amendments of Wood char (WC), Catle dung (CD) and a combinaton of both Wood and Catle dung (WCD) chars
weighed at 150 g (W
1
), 300 g (W
2
) and 450 g (W
3
) were assessed for physico-chemical characteristcs of incorporated soils
contaminated with diesel fuel. Results showed signifcant infuence of the amendments with highest mean concentratons
of 7.5 ± 0.36 in WCD (W
2
), 6.25 ± 0.13 mg kg
-1
in WCD (W
3
), 12.42 ± 0.28 mg kg
-1
in CD (W
2
), 122.11 ± 2.71 cmol kg
-1
in
CD (W
3
) and 140.81 ± 34.01 cmol kg
-1
in WCD (W
3
) soils for pH, organic mater, available P and exchangeable Mg and K
respectvely. Heavy metals concentraton was highest at 0.12 ± 0.01 mg kg
-1
in WCD (W
3
) and 0.68 ± 0.34 mg kg
-1
in CD
(W
2
) for cadmium and nickel, respectvely. These results indicated that CD and WCD were most efectve in turning acidic
soils basic, infuencing carbon sink, increasing organic mater content, mobilizing P, and mineralizing Mg and K while
immobilizing Cd and Ni. Correlaton analysis showed that locally pyrolysed biochars of CD and WCD possess potental
of turning diesel contaminated soils suitable for agricultural use. It was therefore recommended that local farmers can
adopt earthen kiln method for pyrolysing feedstock and turn into amendments for contaminated soils.
Keywords
Local pyrolysis, Amendment, Biochar, Catle dung char, Wood char
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updates
statons are situated and operated as well as at fash points
of major oil spillage. The resultant efects of these forms
of environmental hazards are mostly felt by rural dwellers
and farmers as there are inadequacies in response and
management of such problems.
Carbon-rich char produced from pyrolytc processes
makes materials from biological sources highly recalcitrant [4],
thereby possessing great potental for improving agronomic
producton when applied to soils as an amendment [5].
The applicaton of such “biochar” materials has, however,
Introduction
The challenges of agricultural soils being contaminated
with crude oil or industrial and domestc wastes are becoming
more exacerbatng. These contaminants have the capacity
to penetrate soils beyond plant root depth of 20-30 cm and
contaminate underlying ground water. They are known to
play signifcant roles in agricultural productvity that can
result to the loss of fertlity, biodiversity and further promote
environmental degradaton. The widespread problem of an
escalatng human populaton growth with diminishing food
security and climate change efects (carbon abatement) have
been identfed as contributng factors in recent tmes [1].
The exposure of arable lands to hydrocarbon efuents either
accidentally or intentonally has further widened the gap in
solving such global problems especially at the rural level.
Massive industrializaton and urbanizaton have become
viable channels through which saturated hydrocarbons like
diesel fuels and other substances with similar carcinogenic
propertes are spilled into soils with litle applicable means of
control [2]. These substances possess health risk propertes
that can reach up to 11% of the diesel volume [2,3]; and are
mostly found in areas where automobile workshops or flling