Physics Department, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Health Phys. 2012 Jan;102(1):63-70. doi: 10.1097/HP.0b013e3182289c17.
Manufactured phosphate fertilizers and their agricultural applications are considerable sources of environmental pollution. In this study, composite samples of phosphate fertilizer (PF) of different physical forms (granular, G, and water soluble powder, L) were collected. The activity concentration of 238U in Bq kg(-1) was measured using gamma ray spectrometers, and the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and selenium in mg kg(-1) were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometers (ICP-OES). The main aims of this study were to evaluate PF quality according to its physical form, determine manufacturers (local, L, or imported, I), and estimate the hazardous impacts of long-term phosphate fertilization. There was significant variation in the concentration of uranium and other elements in PF samples. In order to have globally normalized data, it is highly recommended to express the concentration of trace elements as per phosphorus mass instead of fertilizer mass. The annual addition of these elements to soil due to phosphate fertilization was calculated. The possible accumulation of added uranium and other trace elements due to fertilization in the subsurface soil layer and/or shallow underground water should be studied in the soil environment of Saudi Arabia.
生产的磷肥及其农业应用是环境污染的重要来源。本研究采集了不同物理形态（颗粒状、G 和水溶性粉末、L）的磷肥（PF）复合样品。使用伽马射线光谱仪测量了 238U 的活度浓度，使用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪（ICP-OES）测量了砷、镉、铜、铅和硒的浓度。本研究的主要目的是根据物理形态评估 PF 的质量，确定制造商（本地、L 或进口、I），并估计长期磷肥施肥的有害影响。PF 样品中铀和其他元素的浓度存在显著差异。为了获得全球归一化数据，强烈建议将微量元素的浓度表示为磷质量而不是肥料质量。根据磷肥的施用，计算了这些元素每年向土壤中的添加量。应在沙特阿拉伯的土壤环境中研究由于施肥而导致铀和其他痕量元素在地下土壤层和/或浅层地下水中的可能积累。
