Efficacy of cheap amendments for stabilizing trace elements in contaminated paddy fields.

In situ stabilization of trace elements by adding cheap amendments is an emerging technology for large-scale soil remediation. Various amendments have been examined well in the literature, but related have focused predominantly on short-term laboratory scale incubation or pot experiments. This study applied dolomitic lime at 40 ton ha, oyster shell (OS) at 80 ton ha, and sugarcane bagasse compost (SC) at 60 ton ha to a paddy field in Taiwan for two rice (Oryza sativa L.

Nickel accumulation in paddy rice on serpentine soils containing high geogenic nickel contents in Taiwan.

We investigated the extractability of nickel (Ni) in serpentine soils collected from rice paddy fields in eastern Taiwan to evaluate the bioavailability of Ni in the soils as well as for demonstrating the health risks of Ni in rice. Total Ni concentrations in the soils ranged were 70.2-2730 mg/kg (mean, 472 mg/kg), greatly exceeding the natural background content and soil control standard in Taiwan.