Moscow State University (2024): mixing shungite into polluted soil locked up most of the toxic metals

The short version

A 2024 lab study from Lomonosov Moscow State University's soil-science faculty tested shungite as a soil amendment for heavy-metal-contaminated ground. Stir it in, and most of the mobile (plant-available, leachable) nickel and copper stopped moving.

What they found

Shungite was mixed into a contaminated gley soil at 2%, 4%, and 7%:

"При добавлении шунгита... снижение подвижности Ni... на 62%... подвижной Cu - на 65%"
"With the addition of shungite... a reduction in nickel mobility of up to 62%... and copper mobility of 65%."

- Nickel: 58-62% less mobile
- Copper: 64-65% less mobile
- Interesting detail: the lowest 2% dose did about as well as the 7% dose - you didn't need much

"Mobile" is the form that matters - it's the fraction plants take up and that washes into groundwater. Cutting it by roughly two-thirds means the metal is still in the soil but locked down.

Worth knowing

This is recent (2024) and from a top-tier university - shungite turning up as a serious soil-remediation amendment.

Sources

- Kovaleva E.I., Perebasova P.M., Avdulov D.A., Ladonin D.V., Trofimov S.Ya. (2024), "Эффективность ремедиантов для детоксикации почв, загрязнённых тяжёлыми металлами...", Вестник МГУ сер.17 Почвоведение: cyberleninka.ru