Biomass power plant waste-derived poultry litter incineration ash for reducing arsenic and cadmium accumulation in radish

Abstract Background and aims Heavy metal/metalloid contamination in agriculture threatens food safety, with arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) commonly accumulating due to industrial activities and certain farming practices. Methods This study evaluated the ability of poultry litter incineration ash (PLIA) to reduce As and Cd uptake in radish. Characterization of PLIA was performed using FTIR, Raman, and XRD. The experiment was established under controlled conditions with the treatments as follows: control, As + Cd, As + Cd + 10 g kg −1 PLIA, As + Cd + 20 g kg −1 PLIA, and As + Cd + 40 g kg −1 PLIA. Results As + Cd treatment increased As from 0.30 to 12 mg kg −1 in leaves and from 0.68 to 132 mg kg −1 in tubers. Cd concentrations increased from 1.58 to 120 mg kg −1 in leaves and from 0.48 to 25.4 mg kg −1 in tubers. PLIA reduced both As and Cd accumulation: the 20 g kg⁻ 1 PLIA dose produced the lowest As concentration in leaves, while 10 g kg −1 resulted in the lowest As in tubers; for Cd, the lowest leaf concentrations occurred at 10–20 g kg −1 , and tuber Cd decreased to 17.6 mg kg −1 with 10 g kg −1 PLIA. Although As + Cd caused slight, non-significant reductions in plant-biomass, PLIA at 10 g kg −1 increased plant dry weight. PLIA improved P and K nutrition but decreased Ca and Mg in tubers, with Mg increasing in leaves. Conclusions PLIA demonstrated strong potential to immobilize As and Cd in soil and reduce their transfer to edible plant tissues.