Natural radionuclides and trace elements in rice field soils in relation to fertilizer application: study of a chronic kidney disease area in Sri Lanka |
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| Authors: | Rohana Chandrajith Shirani Seneviratna Kumudu Wickramaarachchi T Attanayake T N C Aturaliya C B Dissanayake |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka;(2) Atomic Energy Authority of Sri Lanka, Orugodawatta, Wellampitiya, Sri Lanka;(3) Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka |
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| Abstract: | The rising number of chronic kidney disease patients with no identifiable cause (CKD of uncertain aetiology), prevalent in
some areas of the dry zone of Sri Lanka is suspected to be related to the environmental exposure to heavy metals. Agricultural
soils are well recognized as being contaminated with potentially toxic metals from various forms of fertilizers and agro-chemicals,
which could easily enter the human body through the food chain. The objective of this paper is to determine the content of
heavy metals and activity concentration of background radionuclides such as K-40, Ra-226 and Th-232, in rice field soils.
Rice farming is the most common agricultural practice in the affected region and possible heavy metal sources such as fertilizers
are applied in abundance in the rice fields. Soils collected from a rice field in a non-CKD region was used for the comparison.
In dry zone soils, Ca, K, Ba, Pb and Zr contents were higher and Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni and Zn contents were lower compared to that
of soils from the wet zone non-CKD region. However, the activity concentration of soils was mostly the same in all samples,
except for the K-40 contents of the soils, which were higher in the rice field soils compared to the undisturbed forest soils
and also to the world averages. The mean U content was 3.6 mg/kg in the studied soils, although extremely high uranium contents
were found in some fertilizer samples particularly in the triple superphosphates. Most uranium applied via fertilizer could
contaminate the drinking water sources and even low uranium concentrations in drinking water may cause nephrotoxic effects. |
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