Selecting appropriate forms of nitrogen fertilizer to enhance soil arsenic removal by Pteris vittata: A new approach in phytoremediation

Certain plant species have been shown to vigorously accumulate some metals from soil, and thus represent promising and effective remediation alternatives. In order to select the optimum forms of nitrogen (N) fertilizers for the arsenic (As) hyperaccumulator, Pteris vittata L., to maximize As extraction, five forms of N were added individually to different treatments to study the effect of N forms on As uptake of the plants under soil culture in a greenhouse. Although shoot As concentration tended to decrease and As translocation from root to shoot was inhibited, overall As accumulation was greater due to higher biomass when N fertilizer was added. Arsenic accumulation in plants with N fertilization was 100∼300% more than in the plants without N fertilization. There were obvious differences in plant biomass and As accumulation among the N forms, i.e., NH4HCO3, (NH4)2SO4, Ca(NO3)2, KNO3, urea. The total As accumulation in the plants grown in As-supplied soil, under different forms of N fertilizer, decreased...