Phosphorus leaching from a sandy soil in the presence of modified and un-modified adsorbents

Phosphorus (P) leaching from a sandy soil was investigated in the presence of modified and unmodified clay minerals and nanoparticles (NPs). Compared with control soil, amended soil with NPs had the highest percentage of P retention than amended soil with clay minerals. Among the adsorbents used, the highest percentage of P retention was produced by Al₂O₃-chitosan while the lowest percentage of P retention was by zeolite. Data measured for P leaching after using adsorbents were used to predict P leaching using transport model. PHREEQC model was able to model P leaching from control and amended soil. After leaching, P values in control and amended soil were fractionated by a sequential extraction procedure. Concentration of P in Ca-bound fraction (HCl–P) after application of modified and unmodified clay minerals and NPs (except TiO₂ and Al₂O₃) increased and decreased, respectively. Saturation indices (SIs) and P speciation were assessed using the Visual MINTEQ version 2.3 program. According to the SIs, leaching P from control and amended soil with different adsorbent was controlled by dissolution of hydroxyapatite. The results indicated that used adsorbents can reduce P leaching from the sandy soil. Thus, retention of P by amended soil reduced a risk in terms of groundwater contamination with P.