THURSDAY 13 APRIL, 4 PM CET (HYBRID WEBINAR)
Delphine vandeputte
Investigating the influence of soil pH on the bioavailability of trace metals to plants using diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT)
ABSTRACT :
High trace metal concentrations in food are a risk for human health. Therefore, understanding their behaviour in soil is vital since the uptake of these elements by plant roots is influenced by dynamic processes controlling the element mobilisation from the soil. The pH of the soil is one of the major parameters influencing these processes since it can cause different degrees of metal mobilization from solid phase to porewater in soil. Classic methodologies (e.g. acid extraction, sequential extraction), the passive sampling method diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and pot experiments are applied since the dynamic processes in soil are tricky to be determined and understood. The goal of this research is to assess the influence of pH on bioavailability of trace metals and find out how well DGT effectively mimics the plant root system and is able to measure bioavailable element species.