Plant-available Lead in Prairie Restoration Soil Previously Exposed to Trapshooting
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Carmen Nezat
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-8-2024 11:15 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 1:00 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Geosciences
Abstract
Lead is a widespread and dangerous environmental contaminant that affects much of the world today. It is commonly known as a neurotoxin that causes significant health effects. One such lead-contaminated area is a portion of the Eastern Washington University (EWU) prairie restoration site which was formerly a dryland wheat field. This site has been contaminated with lead due to previous trapshooting activity that made use of lead ammunition. The lead ammunition has been thoroughly mixed into the upper layers of soil through decades of tilling. Fortunately, lead has low mobility in soil and is therefore unlikely to contaminate nearby water sources. Thus, the main issue is how lead affects the soil ecosystem and human health. Considering that the goals of the EWU prairie restoration project are to re-establish native vegetation, it is important to know if the lead is available for plant uptake. The goal of this study is to determine the bioavailability of lead in the soil. This is accomplished using a sequential leach and digestion procedure that quantifies the lead in the exchangeable fraction (the most plant-available form), that weakly bound to carbonates and phosphates, and total lead. Preliminary data indicate total lead concentrations exceed 500 mg/kg soil in the trapshooting area and are 5-10 mg/kg in nearby soils not affected by trapshooting. The results of this study will allow for the recognition of a lead-contaminated area so that it can be remediated and/or monitored.
Recommended Citation
Desimone, Carson, "Plant-available Lead in Prairie Restoration Soil Previously Exposed to Trapshooting" (2024). 2024 Symposium. 27.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2024/ps_2024/p2_2024/27
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Plant-available Lead in Prairie Restoration Soil Previously Exposed to Trapshooting
PUB NCR
Lead is a widespread and dangerous environmental contaminant that affects much of the world today. It is commonly known as a neurotoxin that causes significant health effects. One such lead-contaminated area is a portion of the Eastern Washington University (EWU) prairie restoration site which was formerly a dryland wheat field. This site has been contaminated with lead due to previous trapshooting activity that made use of lead ammunition. The lead ammunition has been thoroughly mixed into the upper layers of soil through decades of tilling. Fortunately, lead has low mobility in soil and is therefore unlikely to contaminate nearby water sources. Thus, the main issue is how lead affects the soil ecosystem and human health. Considering that the goals of the EWU prairie restoration project are to re-establish native vegetation, it is important to know if the lead is available for plant uptake. The goal of this study is to determine the bioavailability of lead in the soil. This is accomplished using a sequential leach and digestion procedure that quantifies the lead in the exchangeable fraction (the most plant-available form), that weakly bound to carbonates and phosphates, and total lead. Preliminary data indicate total lead concentrations exceed 500 mg/kg soil in the trapshooting area and are 5-10 mg/kg in nearby soils not affected by trapshooting. The results of this study will allow for the recognition of a lead-contaminated area so that it can be remediated and/or monitored.
