Exploring absorption capacity of biochar in reducing hormonal pollution from agriculture fields

摘要

The presence of natural steroidal sex hormones from liquid swine manure as trace concentrations in the environment has been reported by many researchers and is of growing concern due to its possible adverse effects on the ecosystem. In various studies, biochar has shown the absorbing potential for hormones because if its structural and physiochemical properties. Hypothesis of this experiment is 1 % slow pyrolysis biochar applied one year before can still retain significant concentration of hormones from liquid swine manure during second year after its application. The absorption capacity of 1% slow pyrolysis biochar, in the second year after its application, was tested as a topsoil amendment on the fate and transport of sex hormones in a sandy soilover a 45-day period where liquid swine manure was applied as fertilizer to lysimeters, irrigated with simulated rainfall. In the first year of biochar application, a statistical significance was observed between the spatial-temporal stratification of steroidal sex hormones in the soil with and without biochar treatments. The mass of hormones in the soil profile and leachate was comparatively lower in the lysimeters treated with biochar than those not treated with biochar. This finding confirmed the effective absorption capability of biochar as a soil amendment for reducing swine manure-borne hormonal pollution in soil and water in the first year of application, but biochar absorbed less hormones in second year after its application as compared to first year of its application. This finding confirms that 1 % slow pyrolysis biochar capacity to absorb sex hormones from liquid swine manure in sandy soil decreases with time.