Soil bacteria neutralize fertilizer waste that leaks fluoride into groundwater
Xu Y, Wang Z, Liu Y, Wu Z, Li S
Soil Health
Phosphogypsum-amended soil quietly pumps fluoride into groundwater at three times the safe limit; the microbes already thriving in healthy soil may be the most practical way to stop it.
Factories that make phosphate fertilizer generate mountains of a chalky waste called phosphogypsum, and spreading it on farm fields has become popular as a way to put that waste to use. This study found that doing so pushes fluoride, which in high doses harms teeth and bones, into groundwater at dangerous concentrations. Researchers then discovered a naturally occurring soil bacterium that locks up that fluoride by turning it into stable crystals, doing the job better than any chemical treatment they tested.
Key Findings
Phosphogypsum-amended soils leach fluoride at up to 3.0 mg/L, three times China's Class III groundwater quality limit
Nocardia sp. X10 achieved 65.7% fluoride immobilization in soil columns, surpassing chemical passivators at 57.2% and 61.8%
Adding calcium and phosphate as mineral precursors boosted bacterial fluoride capture from 8.6% to 77.1%
chevron_right Technical Summary
Phosphogypsum, a fertilizer-industry waste increasingly spread on fields as a soil conditioner, leaches fluoride into groundwater at up to three times the safe limit. A soil bacterium found in this study traps that fluoride by crystallizing it into stable minerals, outperforming all chemical treatments tested.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Overlooked fluoride release from modified phosphogypsum and its effective immobilization by Nocardia sp.
The application of modified phosphogypsum (MPG) as a soil amendment has emerged as a promising strategy for its large-scale utilization, yet the potential environmental risk of fluoride (F-) releas...
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