How could phytoextraction reduce Cd content in soils under annual crops? Simulations in the French context.

Human populations are threatened by chronic exposure to the Cd accumulated in foods after being taken up from soils by crops. To evaluate how phytoextraction with the hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens as an annual crop or as a cover crop could modify the Cd mass balance in French agricultural soils, we simulated this process according to two scenarios. If current practices are maintained (first scenario), the average soil Cd content will increase by 2.

Cadmium mass balance in French soils under annual crops: Scenarios for the next century.

Human populations are threatened by chronic exposure to the Cd accumulated in foods after being taken up from soils by crops. To decide whether and to what extent it is necessary to reduce the Cd content in cultivated soils, one needs to understand and predict its evolution. We therefore simulated the Cd mass balance in the soils under annual crops in France and in its 22 regions for the next century, following six scenarios of agricultural practices or regulatory conditions.