Copper is an essential trace element in living organisms, but its excess interferes with metabolic transformations in plant, animal and human cells. The uptake of copper from contaminated soils can be regulated, for example, by soil liming or application of other substances which enhance soil adsorption capacity and Cu binding in the substrate. The purpose of this study has been to assess the response of maize to soil contamination with copper depending on the applied neutralizing substances. The tested factors were increasing concentrations of Cu in soil: 0, 200, 400 and 600 mg Cu kg 1 dm, and soil application of mineral (lime, loam and zeolite) and organic (manure, peat and bark) neutralizing substances. Soil contamination with copper within the range of 200 to 600 mg kg 1 of soil caused reduction in maize yields. Positive influence such as alleviation of the harmful effect of copper contamination was demonstrated by lime and manure, which enhanced yields of maize, especially in the series polluted with 200 and 400 mg Cu kg 1. The other soil amending substances, especially peat added in amounts of 400 and 600 mg kg 1 of soil, caused a considerable depression in maize yields. A linear dependence has been demonstrated between the concentration of Cu in maize plants and the content of Cu in the substrate, with the root content of Cu being on average six-fold higher than in aerial organs. Mineral soil amendments significantly decreased the BTC index in maize compared to organic substances, and lime as well as pine bark decreased the BCF index to 2.33 and 1.67 versus the value of 4.21 found in the control treatment without any neutralizing substances. The uptake of copper depended on the volume of yield and to a lesser degree on the concentration of Cu in plants. The uptake of copper by plants was the highest in treatments contaminated with a rate of 200 mg Cu kg 1 , which was the consequence of higher yields from that treatment than from the plots polluted with 400 or 600 mg Cu kg 1 of soil.
With the continually growing amounts of municipal sewage sludge, the problem of its recycling becomes more and more important. Sewage sludge is a noxious but unavoidable by-product of sewage and wastewater treatment. According to the Main Statistial Office (GUS), the total amount of sewage sludge generated in Poland in 2012 was 533.3 thousand tons of d.m., of which 115 thousand tons were then used in agriculture [GUS 2013]. Apart from farming, sewage sludge can also be used to rehabilitate degraded land (50.3 thousand tons of dry matter) and to cultivate plants grown for compost (33.3 thousand tons of d.m.). One of the most rational ways to utilize this ABSTRACT Municipal sewage sludge can be used in agriculture provided that the permissible levels of heavy metals are not exceeded in either the sewage sludge or in the top layer of soil to be amended by this substance, and that its application does not deteriorate the soil quality. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different forms of sewage sludge on the content of Cu and Zn in soil and in soil leachate. The study comprised 2 rotations (potato, spring barley, winter oilseed rape, winter wheat). Each series was composed of the following treatments: NPK, FYM, municipal sewage sludge composted with straw, dried and granulated municipal sewage. FYM and composted sewage were applied once in the rotation (under potato) in a dose of 10 Mg d.m. ha -1 and twice (under potato and under winter oilseed rape) in a dose of 5 Mg d.m. ha -1 . In the other years (under spring barley and winter wheat), soil received only mineral fertilization. In order to evaluate the effect of the composts on the leaching of Cu and Zn from soil, a lysimetric experiment was conducted under controlled conditions. Before the experiment, the soil content of Cu was low (1.47 mg kg -1 ) and Zn was medium (10.11 mg kg -1 ). The content of copper in the composts ranged from 4.5 to 340.1 mg kg -1 d.m. and that of zinc was from 109.5 to 1310.1 mg kg -1 d.m. The composted sewage sludge significantly raised the soil content of available forms of Cu and Zn, but did not change the soil nutrient abundance class. Fertilization modified the content of the microelements in the soil leachate.
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