Long-term effects of intensive application of manure on heavy metal pollution risk in protected-field vegetable production

Heavy metal contamination in protected-field vegetable production has aroused widespread concern and manure is considered to be one of the contamination sources. Little is known about its long-term effects on heavy metal pollution in uncontaminated soils. A 15-year protected-field vegetable production experiment was carried out with three manure treatments (chicken manure: cattle manure = 3:1) with high (HMAR), medium (MMAR) and low (LMAR) application rates to evaluate the long-term risks of heavy metal pollution. It was found that continuous and high manure application rates significantly increased the total concentrations of soil Cd, Zn, Cr, and Cu rather than Pb, Ni or As. The high application rate of manure also increased soil available heavy metals although the soil organic matter was increased as well. Though total soil Cd under the HMAR exceeded the threshold of national soil standard, Cd content in tomato and fennel still complied with the food safety requirements of vegetables. Generally, the accumulation rates of soil Zn, Cu, and Cr with 1 t⋅ha⁻¹ of manure application in three treatments were ranked by HMAR < MMAR < LMAR. Based on the results of the ratio of heavy metal accumulation risk (RAR), Zn, Cu, and Cr under HMAR and Cd and Zn under MMAR would exceed their soil threshold values within 100 years and RAR could be a useful indicator for monitoring the long-term risk of soil heavy metal pollution. Recommended manure application rates to guarantee a 100-year period of clean production were 44, 74, and 63 t⋅ha⁻¹⋅yr⁻¹ for Zn, Cu, and Cr, respectively. Measurements should be taken to minimize the risk of heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Cr, and Cu) pollution sourced from manure to ensure food safety and ‘cleaner’ protected-field vegetable production.