title: Atmospheric contribution to boron enrichment in aboveground wheat tissues.
abstract: Boron is an essential trace element for all organisms and has both beneficial and harmful biological functions. A particular amount of boron is discharged into the environment every year because of industrial activities; however, the effects of environmental boron emissions on boron accumulation in cereals has not yet been estimated. The present study characterized the accumulation of boron in wheat under different ecological conditions in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) area. This study aimed to estimate the effects of atmospheric boron that is associated with industrial activities on boron accumulation in wheat. The results showed that the concentrations of boron in aboveground wheat tissues from the highly industrialized region were significantly higher than those from the agriculture-dominated region, even though there was no significant difference in boron content in soils. Using the model based on the translocation coefficients of boron in the soil-wheat system, we estimated that the contribution of atmosphere to boron accumulation in wheat straw in the highly industrialized region exceeded that in the agriculture-dominated region by 36%. In addition, from the environmental implication of the model, it was estimated that the development of boron-utilizing industries had elevated the concentration of boron in aboveground wheat tissues by 28-53%.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China; Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China. Electronic address: wangcheng118@163.com.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
authors.forename: Mindong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Environment Change and Resources Use (Guangxi Teachers Education University, China), Ministry of Education, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Intelligent Simulation (Guangxi Teachers Education University), Nanning, 530001, China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
authors.forename: Zhongfang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Browne
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D001895:Boron / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002681:China; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D007221:Industry; D045483:Rivers; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014908:Triticum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D001895:Boron
keywords: Accumulation; Cereal; China; Soil; Trace element; Translocation coefficient