The Effect of “Production during Remediation” of Plants in Cd-Contaminated Soil

Abstract

In order to find suitable plants for “production during remediation” in wheat fields moderately contaminated by cadmium (Cd), five plants—green amaranth, oil sunflower, broomcorn, maize, and waxy maize—were planted in pots to study their enrichment characteristics and remediation effects in Cd-contaminated soil. The results showed that the highest bioaccumulation and translocation factors were greater than 0.5 for oil sunflower, which had the strongest Cd-enrichment ability in Cd-contaminated soil, but its biomass was small, and the Cd content of the grain exceeded the standard (GB2762-2017). The Cd content in the grains of broomcorn, maize, and waxy maize was less than 0.1 mg∙kg−1, which is lower than the national food safety standard on limiting pollutants in food (GB2762-2017). Broomcorn accumulated 0.429 mg∙pot−1 for Cd, with a Cd-extraction efficiency of 1.73%, which were higher than other plants. Taking the risk-screening values in GB15618-2018 “Soil Environmental Quality Standard” as the target, it will take 80 years to remediate using broomcorn, which has the highest extraction efficiency, based on cultivating remediation plants once per year. However, in view of the scarcity of arable land resources in China and the objective of safe production during remediation, the use of broomcorn can be considered for production during remediation for the given degree of Cd contamination of the soil.