Work on environmental impacts on soil is awarded by the Brazilian Soil Science Society

It was during the 20th Brazilian Meeting on Soil Water Management and Conservation, held between November 20th and 24th, in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), that work carried out at the “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture (USP/ESALQ) , in partnership with Unesp Jaboticabal, received the award for best scientific work from the Pollution, Soil Remediation and Recovery of Degraded Areas Commission. The event was organized by the Brazilian Society of Soil Science.

Entitled "Prediction of Cu, Zn and Pb using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy", the study developed at the Soil Chemistry Laboratory (LQS), of the Department of Soil Science (LSO) at ESALQ, is authored by professor Luís Reynaldo Ferraciú Alleoni , from LSO, and researchers Livia Arantes Camargo, José Marques Júnior and Gener Tadeu Pereira, from Unesp Jaboticabal.

According to Alleoni, determining the levels of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soils is necessary to assess their environmental impacts. In addition to chemical extraction methods normally used in laboratories, the study evaluates cheaper techniques that generate less waste, such as diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (ERD). “However, to validate a new technique such as ERD it is necessary to carry out chemical analyzes in a reference laboratory, just as ESALQ's LQS is accredited, accredited at INMETRO by ISO 17025 since 2012”, highlighted the professor. “In the laboratory, optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ERD were used to obtain the levels of copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in soil samples from the Northeast of the State of São Paulo. grown with sugar cane”, explained the teacher.

The researcher states that the values ​​were satisfactorily predicted by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, mainly for Cu and Zn. “The techniques for predicting potentially toxic elements presented in the work can help in obtaining information for the purpose of pollution risk assessments and low-cost-benefit remediation strategies”, concluded Alleoni.

The project participants, which had support from FAPESP and CNPq, are now seeking adaptations regarding predictors and calibration strategies for models for predicting EPT levels in mineralologically different soils and/or located in different landscape models.