Negative effects of chelants on soil qualities of five soil series

Due to the low phytoavailability of some heavy metals (HMs), a prolonged period is required when phytoextraction is used to remove these HMs from contaminated soils. The use of chelants and other chemical compounds are often used to increase the phytoavailability of the HMs for plant uptake. Negative effects of chemical agents on the soil and groundwater have rarely been reported during chemical-enhanced phytoextraction. This research applied chelants to various soil series with different characteristics to assess their impacts on soil quality. The experimental results showed that the application of 5 mmol kg(-1) of all chelants had a negative effect on the soil quality. This was especially true for electrical conductivity (EC) when diethylene trinitrilo pentaacetic acid (DTPA) was used as the chemical extracting agent.