Chicken litter: a potential source of arsenic in agricultural soil and its contamination in Cajanus cajan

A most widely used organoarsenical compound known as Roxarsone is used as chicken feed additive which consists of both arsenic (III) and arsenic (V) including many other forms of arsenic. The present study highlighted a comprehensive evaluation of chicken litter with respect to the leaching of arsenic under a different pH, contamination of agricultural soil, and accumulation of arsenic in different parts of Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan). Study results revealed that arsenic leaching from chicken litter is highly pH dependent and alkaline pH is a favourable condition for leaching of arsenic from litter. Depthwise arsenic distribution results indicate litter-mediated arsenic distributed in different layers through leaching process. Moreover, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate the uptake, translocation and distribution of total arsenic in Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) using different doses of poultry litter. Pot experiment results revealed that maximum arsenic is accumulated in the shoot than root and leaf (p < 0.05) at lower dose. However, at higher dose, root accumulation is significantly (p < 0.05) higher than shoot and leaf. Moreover, results also revealed that the translocation factor of Cajanus cajan is less than 1. Finally, it can be concluded that Roxarsone-mediated arsenic can discharge from the chicken body through litter and ultimately pollute our environment.

Automated summary

The study revealed the pH dependence of arsenic leaching from chicken litter and the distribution of litter-mediated arsenic in different layers. The pot experiment showed that different doses of poultry litter affect the distribution of arsenic in Pigeon pea, with a translocation factor less than 1.