Effects of arsenic contamination in sprinkling water on the arsenic content of lettuce in hydroculture

Abstract

Horticulture, and mainly vegetable growing, is one of the most important sectors of agriculture in Hungary. The production area of indoor and outdoor vegetable growing exceeds 60 000 ha per year. About 80 percent of this area is located in the southeast region of the country. The average precipitation of this area is 380-450 mm per year, therefore intensive vegetable growing can't avoid irrigation. However, sprinkling water is relatively available in this territory. Underground water for irrigation between 30 and 200 m is obtainable in good quality and quantity for all agricultural production. In some cases higher salt content and iron level appear in underground waters, and beyond these, higher arsenic concentration can be observed probably from geological origin. Main arsenic ion form is arsenate, which was concentrated in living water residues in Pleistocene and Holocene. In these waters arsenic concentration is 20 to 200 pg/L. In Faculty of Horticulture, Kecskemét College, we started our investigations in order to study the arsenic uptake and accumulating properties of different vegetables, grown under the influence of arsenic polluted sprinkling water. Our methods were indoor and outdoor growing, rainfall and trickle irrigation, soil and hydroculture manner as well. This paper summarizes our results on hydroculture lettuce grown with 0-25-50-75-100-200 pg/L (natural As dose) and 400-600-800 pg/L (provoked As dose) arsenic polluted sprinkling water.