The role of biochar in modifying the environmental fate, bioavailability, and efficacy of pesticides in soils: a review

Soil Research ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rai S. Kookana

The role of biochar in sequestration of carbon, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, and improving the soil fertility is increasingly being recognised and is leading to the recommendations of biochar amendment of soils. However, the implications of such amendments to the environmental fate and efficacy of pesticides are not well understood. The published work on the role of black carbon (which includes charcoal, soot, and other pyrolytic carbon materials) in the environmental fate and effect of organic contaminants is reviewed here, together with the studies on bioavailability and efficacy of some herbicides in soils amended with freshly produced biochars. Biochars, due to their unique properties especially their highly carbonaceous and aromatic nature and high specific surface area, have been reported to be up to >2000 times more effective than soil in sorbing pesticides. The incorporation of relatively small amounts of fresh biochars in soil (0.05% by wt) has also been shown to inhibit the microbial degradation of organic compounds including pesticides as well as reduce their plant availability and efficacy. Based on limited published research on biochars and related research on black carbon reviewed here, biochar amendments to soils are likely to reduce the bioavailability and efficacy of pesticides. Furthermore, these amendments can influence the potential accumulation and ecotoxicological impact of pesticides and other organic contaminants in the soil environment. The implications of heterogeneity and ageing of biochars applied to soils for sorption and desorption processes and in turn for other environmental fate processes need to be understood to seek the appropriate balance between carbon sequestration and pesticide efficacy. While biochar amendment of soil holds appeal from a carbon accounting and soil conditioning perspective, further research is urgently required to determine how biochar influences the efficacy and environmental fate of agrochemicals such as pesticides.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 403-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. Rittmann

Microbiological detoxification of hazardous organic pollutants is highly promising, but its reliable implementation requires a sophisticated understanding of several different substrate types and how they interact. This paper carefully defines the substrate types and explains how their interactions affect the bacteria's electron and energy flows, information flow, and degradative activity. For example, primary substrates, which are essential for growth and maintenance of the bacteria, also interact with degradation of specific hazardous pollutants by being inducers, inhibitors, and direct or indirect cosubstrates. The target contaminants, which often are secondary substrates, also have the interactive roles of self-inhibitor, inhibitor of primary-substrate utilization, inducer, and a part of an aggregate primary substrate.



Author(s):  
Jingwen Pan ◽  
Baoyu Gao ◽  
Pijun Duan ◽  
Kangying Guo ◽  
Muhammad Akram ◽  
...  

Nonradical pathway-based persulfate oxidation technology is considered to be a promising method for high-salinity organic wastewater treatment.



Biochar ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Yang ◽  
Yongjie Wang ◽  
Huan Zhong

AbstractThe transformation of mercury (Hg) into the more toxic and bioaccumulative form methylmercury (MeHg) in soils and sediments can lead to the biomagnification of MeHg through the food chain, which poses ecological and health risks. In the last decade, biochar application, an in situ remediation technique, has been shown to be effective in mitigating the risks from Hg in soils and sediments. However, uncertainties associated with biochar use and its underlying mechanisms remain. Here, we summarize recent studies on the effects and advantages of biochar amendment related to Hg biogeochemistry and its bioavailability in soils and sediments and systematically analyze the progress made in understanding the underlying mechanisms responsible for reductions in Hg bioaccumulation. The existing literature indicates (1) that biochar application decreases the mobility of inorganic Hg in soils and sediments and (2) that biochar can reduce the bioavailability of MeHg and its accumulation in crops but has a complex effect on net MeHg production. In this review, two main mechanisms, a direct mechanism (e.g., Hg-biochar binding) and an indirect mechanism (e.g., biochar-impacted sulfur cycling and thus Hg-soil binding), that explain the reduction in Hg bioavailability by biochar amendment based on the interactions among biochar, soil and Hg under redox conditions are highlighted. Furthermore, the existing problems with the use of biochar to treat Hg-contaminated soils and sediments, such as the appropriate dose and the long-term effectiveness of biochar, are discussed. Further research involving laboratory tests and field applications is necessary to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the role of biochar in reducing Hg bioavailability in diverse soil types under varying redox conditions and to develop completely green and sustainable biochar-based functional materials for mitigating Hg-related health risks.





2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 55-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susann Schäfer ◽  
Heike Mayer

Abstract The editorial for the special issue on entrepreneurial ecosystems summarizes the ongoing debate on the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept and portrays the backgrounds of founding figures of the concept. It traces the unique contribution of this issue with regard to recently published research. The contributions deal with the measurement of and the role of specific actors and institutions in entrepreneurial ecosystems.



1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lever

There is some controversy concerning the role of ethnicity in South African electoral behaviour. Since the society is segmented on ethnic lines it is to be expected that ethnicity would play a crucial role in affecting political choices. Some writers have gone so far as to suggest that ethnicity is the only significant factor affecting voting preferences. The controversy arose at a time when Goodman's method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models had not yet been developed. This method provides the most powerful tool available for the multivariate analysis of categorical data. A re-analysis of previously published research using Goodman's method shows that ethnicity is not the only significant factor having a bearing on voting preferences. The first four-way table of voting preferences in South Africa is presented. The order of importance of the variables affecting party choice is: (1) ethnicity (2) socio-economic status (3) age of the voter. The recursive model suggested by the analysis explains approximately 98 per cent of the data.



2021 ◽  
pp. 126928
Author(s):  
Zilan Jin ◽  
Shuangjie Xiao ◽  
Haoran Dong ◽  
Junyang Xiao ◽  
Ran Tian ◽  
...  


2021 ◽  
pp. 117313
Author(s):  
Banghai Liu ◽  
Wanqian Guo ◽  
Wenrui Jia ◽  
Huazhe Wang ◽  
Shanshan Zheng ◽  
...  


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Baker ◽  
Jennifer Robertson-Wilson ◽  
Whitney Sedgwick

The current study examined whether the distribution of published research papers in the field of sport psychology followed the Lotka-Price Law of scientific productivity. All authors who had published articles in five sport psychology journals from 1970 to 2000 were considered. The impact of those authors was determined by the total number of published papers in all journals. Results provided limited support for the Lotka-Price Law; however, it appeared that the field of sport psychology was less elitist than other fields. Although these findings suggest that productivity in this field is similar to that in other fields of science, more research is needed to shed light on the role of the eminent scientist and the average researcher in the advancement of knowledge in sport psychology.



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