Valorization of shell waste as a nature-based soil amendment for stabilization of heavy metals in agricultural soils: Toward safe agricultural recultivation.

Calcined shell waste reduces leachable Pb and Zn by over 97% in contaminated soils, enabling safe crop cultivation and soil stabilization.

• Why it matters: Heavy metal contamination threatens agricultural productivity and food safety, creating a need for sustainable, effective remediation methods that utilize waste materials.
• What they did: The study incorporated natural and calcined abalone and pen shell wastes into contaminated soils, analyzing metal stabilization through leaching tests, sequential extraction, SEM-EDX, and crop trials with lettuce.
• The result: Calcined shells significantly immobilized metals, lowering bioavailability and preventing plant uptake, while coupling stabilization with capping restored crop yields and ensured food safety.