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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #305424
Title: Chloropicrin emission reduction by soil amendment with biochar

Author
item WANG, QIUXIA - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LIU, PENGFEI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item MAO, LIANGANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item Wang, Dong
item YAN, DONGDONG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item FANG, WENSHENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LI, YUAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item OUYANG, CANBIN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item CAO, AOCHENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2015
Publication Date: 6/15/2015
Citation: Wang, Q., Liu, P., Mao, L., Wang, D., Yan, D., Fang, W., Li, Y., Ouyang, C., Cao, A. 2015. Chloropicrin emission reduction by soil amendment with biochar. PLoS One. 10(6):e0129448. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129448.

Interpretive Summary: Soil amendment has been considered one of the options in soil fumigation for reducing possible environmental concerns by reducing volatile toxic fumigant chemicals from escaping into the air. A series of laboratory experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of amending surface soils with biochar, a carbon-enriched and porous material produced by heating organic materials under limited or no oxygen. These lab tests showed that, with biochar, emissions of the fumigant chloropicrin were drastically reduced, degradation of the fumigant in soil was increased, and biocidal activity of the fumigant on soil-borne plant pathogens and nematodes was not affected. Additional studies are needed to extend the laboratory findings for adopting biochar as a viable soil fumigation amendment.

Technical Abstract: Biochar is the carbon-enriched and porous material produced by heating organic material under conditions of limited or no oxygen. As biochar has a large surface area and strong sorption capacity, it can enhance the sequestration of organic contaminants such as pesticides in soil. Chloropicrin (CP) is an important fumigant for the production of many fruit and vegetable crops, but its emissions must be minimized to reduce exposure risks and air pollution. Applying biochar to surface soil has the potential to reduce fumigant emissions. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of biochar amendments to surface soil on CP emissions, soil gas concentration after injection to soil columns, and degradation and pest control efficacy of CP in biochar soil. The column treatments included a polyethylene (PE) tarp only, and PE tarp + biochar at 2 and 5% (on a weight basis) in the top 5 cm soil. The total CP emission (percentage of total applied) over 14 days were 15.9% for no biochar treatment, 2.3% for 2% biochar treatment, and 0.4% for 5% biochar treatment. The results indicate that biochar amendment at 2% to 5% (w/w) reduced total emission losses from 85.7% to 97.7%. Concentrations of 1,3-D in soil gas-phase, especially in the top 5 cm of soil, were reduced before 48 h after application. The half-life of CP decreased from 13.6 h to 6.4 h as the biochar rate increased from 0 to 5%, which indicated that increasing the amount of biochar amendment in soil accelerated the degradation of CP. The study showed that there were no negative effects on pathogen and nematode control when the biochar used in this study was less than 1% (on a weight basis). Findings from this study would be useful for establish guidelines for biochar use in soil fumigation.