Manure metals settle into stable soil forms over a decade
Formentini TA, Fekiacova-Castanet Z, Comin JJ, Mallmann FJK, Pons ML
Soil Health
If you compost manure or use it to fertilize garden beds, this research suggests the copper and zinc it contains don't just accumulate indefinitely or leach away, they lock into stable soil compounds that plants and soil life have to deal with long-term.
Pig manure and bedding waste contain copper and zinc in different chemical forms, but after being spread on fields for over a decade, scientists found these metals end up looking chemically similar no matter which waste they came from. Using a specialized X-ray technique, researchers discovered the metals bind to organic matter and phosphate compounds in the soil rather than attaching to clay minerals or iron oxides. This matters because it tells us how heavy metals from common farm fertilizers behave and persist in soil over the long run.
Key Findings
Pig slurry contained copper(I) and zinc sulfides, while pig deep litter contained copper(II) bound to organic matter and amorphous zinc phosphate
After 11 years of continuous application, both waste-derived metal species converged toward similar forms and accumulation patterns in soil
Copper and zinc did not increase on soil minerals like phyllosilicates or Fe/Mn oxides, and amorphous zinc phosphate proved long-term stable
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists tracked what happens to copper and zinc from pig manure fertilizers over 11 years of soil application, finding that despite starting in very different chemical forms, both metals end up bound to organic matter and phosphate in the soil rather than washing away or building up on soil minerals.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Diverging origins and converging fates of copper and zinc after 11 years of continuous soil amendments with pig slurry and deep litter: An XAS study.
Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) occur in distinct chemical forms in organic waste, yet their long-term behavior and fate in agricultural soils remain poorly understood. We used synchrotron-based X-ray ab...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Ancient Amazonian forests were planted and tended by Indigenous farmers
Forests and fruits we romanticize as wild — including many plants now in our kitchens and gardens — may exist in their current abundance precisely because an...
Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic materials—such as plant waste, food scraps, and manure—into a nutrient-rich amendment that improves soil fertility and structure. For plant science, compost is significant because it enhances soil microbial communities, increases nutrient
arrow_forward Explore topic