Bioavailability of heavy metals in soils amended with sewage sludge

Abstract

Morera, M. T., Echeverría J. and Garrido, J. 2002. Bioavailability of heavy metals in soils amended with sewage sludge. Can. J. Soil Sci. 82: [433][434][435][436][437][438]. The recycling of sewage sludge to agricultural land results in the slow accumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals in soils. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the bioavailability of Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn applied to soils in urban anaerobically stabilized sewage sludge. The soils were Lithic Haplumbrept (Lh), Calcixerollic Xerochrept (Cx1 and Cx2) and Paralithic Xerorthent (Px). Sunflower plants (Helianthus annuus L) were grown in the soils following amendment with the sludge. The addition of sewage sludge markedly increased the average dry weight of the plants in the soils that had lower yields without sludge addition (Lh, Cx2, and Px). The acid pH of the Lh soil favoured the bioavailability of Zn from sewage sludge. The bioavailability of Cu was greater in the alkaline soils than in the acidic soil (Lh), which can be attributed to the high organic matter content of the Lh soil which complexes Cu and impairs its uptake by the plants. The concentration of metals in the plants increased with the sewage sludge dose. The effect of the soil type on the metal concentration in plants was greater that the effect of the dose. Le pH acide du Lh accroît l'absorption du Zn des boues par les plantes. La biodisponibilité du Cu est plus importante dans les sols alcalins que dans le sol acide (Lh). On l'attribue à la forte concentration de matière organique dans le Lh et à la formation de complexes avec le Cu, ce qui empêche les végétaux d'absorber cet élément. La concentration de métaux dans la plante augmente avec la quantité de boues usées employée. Le type de sol agit plus sur la concentration de métaux lourds dans la plante que le volume de boues usées.

Effects of sewage sludge on bio-accumulation of heavy metals in tomato seedlings

“…It has been shown that crop production is favored by the land application of SS (Antolín et al, 2005;Singh & Agrawal, 2008). Morera et al (2002) reported that sludge amendment at the rate of 80, 160 and 320 t/ha DW in soil increased the average dry weight of sunflower plantlets (Helianthus annuus L.). Sludge amendment (SSA) (30,45,60,90 and 120 t/ha) enhanced stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate of rice (Oryza sativa L.) (Singh & Agrawal, 2010).…”

Effect of Biosolid Amendments on the Metal and Nutrient Uptake and Spectral Characteristics of Five Vegetable Plants

“…Biosolid application has been shown to increase plant biomass in sunflower (Morera et al 2002), maize, barley (Hernandez et al 1991), and cotton (Tsakou et al 2001) and decrease in plant biomass in spinach (Singh and Agrawal 2007) and lettuce (Moreno et al 1997). Logan et al (Logan et al 1997) observed a plateau-type response in the accumulation of Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations in corn and a linear response in lettuce plants.…”

The Possibility of Organo-Mineral Fertilizer Production from Sewage Sludge

“…The ratio of Cd content increase is higher than those for Pb, Cu and Zn [41][42][43]. Wang and co-worker indicated that the addition of 40 t of sewage sludge per ha in rice production resulted in the build-up of about 4, 5, 2, and 11 times more of Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb, respectively, in comparison with non-treated soil.…”

“…Zn uptake is greater in the acidic soil than in the alkaline one. The bioavailability of Cu is higher in alkaline soil [41]. Organic matter of sewage sludge is a good adsorptive medium for trace metals in the soil.…”