After publishing “Beyond the Surface: Analysis and Policy Recommendations for Soil Protection”, the Safer Phosphates Foundation received an important update from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Slovakia.
Contrary to a recent study cited in the publication, the current limits for cadmium in soil are established at a range between 0.40 and 1.00 mg.kg-1, reflecting Slovakia’s commitment to safeguarding soil health. These limits are set by Decree 508/2004 Coll. of the Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia, which implements §27 of Act No. 220/2004 Coll. on the protection and use of agricultural land and on the amendment to Act No. 245/2003 Coll. on integrated prevention and monitoring of environmental pollution. As amended, the limits on pollutant metals are as follows:
Cadmium limits in agricultural land (in mg.kg-1 of dry matter decomposed by aqua regia)
| Soil type | |
|---|---|
| sandy, loamy-sandy | 0.40 |
| sandy-loamy, loamy | 0.70 |
| clayey-loamy, clayey, clay | 1.00 |
The publication “Beyond the Surface: Analysis and Policy Recommendations for Soil Protection” was updated accordingly.
The Slovak Republic is one of few EU countries that has a national limit for cadmium content in inorganic fertilizers set at 20 mg.kg-1 (compared with the EU’s limit of 60 mg.kg-1). This limit, which was introduced by the national authorities to protect human health and the environment by preventing the accumulation of cadmium in soil, was also adopted at the EU level by Commission Decision 2020/1205.
The Safer Phosphates Foundation highly appreciates Slovakia’s efforts to limit the contamination of soils by heavy metals and highlights the pressing need to set a Union-wide maximum limit of 20 mg.kg-1 P2O5 or less of cadmium concentration in fertilizers in order to avoid long-term (over the course of 100 years) accumulation of cadmium in soils.
More information is available at
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2004/508/20130401
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32020D120