Co-variation among DOM components, Fe fractions, and Cd / As mobility under fulvic acid amendment in flooded paddy soils.
Li B, Geng J, Zhu Q, Wang Y, Su S
Soil Health
Rice grown in contaminated paddies quietly accumulates cadmium and arsenic in the grain — understanding how natural soil amendments like fulvic acid shift that uptake is one of the few levers farmers have to protect the crop without abandoning the field.
Scientists tested what happens when a natural soil compound called fulvic acid is added to waterlogged rice paddy soil that contains both cadmium and arsenic — two toxic metals. They found that the fulvic acid changed how iron minerals and dissolved organic matter behave together in the soil, which controls how much of those metals can move into plant roots. The results suggest that soil chemistry amendments could be tuned to reduce toxic metal uptake in rice.
Key Findings
Fulvic acid addition significantly decreased water-soluble cadmium (measured as CaCl2-extractable Cd) in flooded paddy soil over 60 days.
DOM and iron fractions co-varied in response to fulvic acid, meaning changes in organic matter and iron chemistry are linked and jointly govern metal mobility.
The experiment ran under flooded (anaerobic/reduction) conditions for 60 days, capturing the redox-driven chemistry that dominates waterlogged paddy environments during the growing season.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Adding fulvic acid to flooded rice paddies changes how iron minerals and organic matter interact in the soil, which in turn affects how much cadmium and arsenic rice plants can absorb. The study found that fulvic acid reduced the availability of cadmium while influencing arsenic mobility in complex ways over a 60-day period.
Abstract Preview
Both dissolved organic matter (DOM) and Fe oxides are key factors associated with cadmium and arsenic (Cd / As) behavior in paddy soils. However, the co-variation of DOM and Fe fractions induced by...
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