Half-time seminar Ylva Bellander
PhD student Ylva Bellander at the Department of Soil and Environment is holding her half-time seminar. The title of her thesis is "Cadmium mass balances in agricultural soil: insights into fertilization and leaching". Welcome!
Date: 25 September 2026
Time: 10:00 - 11:00
Venue: Biosfären
Location: Uppsala
Broadcast online: Link to broadcast
Zoom code: 384895
About the thesis
The non-essential element cadmium (Cd) occurs in all soils and originates from both geogenic and anthropogenic sources. It is toxic to humans even at low levels and bioaccumulates in many human tissues. For the smoking population, tobacco is the primary source of Cd exposure, while cereals and potato are major contributors for the non-smoking population. For this reason, understanding Cd mass balances in soil is crucial for ensuring food safety.
My research focuses on Cd mass balances in Swedish agricultural soils with the aim of further understanding the input flux fertilization and the output flux leaching. During this half-time seminar, I will present findings from my first study on the effect of long-term PK fertilization, along with preliminary results from my second study on Cd sorption behaviour in soils with naturally low Cd concentrations. In addition, I will outline the progress on and plans for my remaining studies, focusing on Cd sorption behaviour in soils developed on alum shale and Cd concentration in the recycled nutrient sources beach-cast seaweed, biofuel ash and biogas digestates.