Trace metals and metalloids in peri-urban soil and foliage across geologic materials, ecosystems, and development intensities in Southern California

Mackowiak, Trevor; Mischenko, Ivan C.; Butler, Mark J.; Richardson, Justin B.

doi:10.1007/s11368-021-02893-3

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Plant samples were oven dried at 90°C for 24 h and mechanically ground. To determine macronutrient and trace element concentrations, digestions were carried out using a modified USEPA 3050B Method (Rechcigl & Payne, 1990), in which samples are combusted prior to strong acid, pseudo‐total digestion (Mackowiak et al., 2021). For every 30 samples, a preparation blank and SRM NIST 1547a Peach Leaves were included.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient and toxic elements in soils and plants across 10 urban community gardens: Comparing pXRF and ICP‐based soil measurements

et al. 2022

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Urban community gardens are becoming increasingly important to rehabilitate developed lands and combat the lack of access to fresh produce. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) offers a rapid, cost-effective method for assessing the elemental composition of soils but needs further study to determine its efficacy in urban agriculture. The objectives of this study were to evaluate if pXRF measurements of macronutrients (Ca, K, P), micronutrients (Cu, Mn, Zn), and toxic elements (As, Pb) generate results comparable with traditional soil analyses and if the soil measurements correlate with plant tissue concentrations at 10 community gardens across the eastern United States. From field-condition analyses of soils by pXRF and pseudototal digestions, we observed that both methods provide agreeable estimates of concentrations for some elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb) but not for macronutrients (Ca, K, P). We hypothesize that low accuracy in pXRF measurements and macronutrients within silicates caused the poor agreement between the methods. Sieved and dried soil pXRF concentrations were in strong agreement with field-condition pXRF concentrations, suggesting rock removal and drying did not improve measurements. Our results highlight that pXRF can be an accurate and effective tool for screening for Mn, Cu, Zn, and Pb. Some elements, such as Pb in fruits; Mn, Cu, and Zn in leaves; and Zn and Pb in roots, could be estimated by soil pXRF or inductively coupled plasmabased analyses. Macronutrients were poorly estimated for fruits, leaves, and roots.Instead of soil concentrations, identifying genus-specific and garden-specific factors may be important for generating plant uptake predictive models.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%