Determination of heavy metals and their availability to plants in soil fertilized with different waste substances

Abstract

Field trials were conducted in 2004–2015, in Bałcyny, on haplic Luvisol formed out of light boulder clay. The experiment consisted of the following treatments: control (no fertilization), NPK, manure (FYM), dried pelleted sewage sludge (DPSS), composted sewage sludge (CSS), compost made from municipal sewage sludge and straw (SSCS), compost Dano made from unsorted household waste (CUHW), and compost produced from urban green waste (CUGW). Over a period of 12 years, 30 t DM/ha of each manure and composts were used, that is, 10 t DM/ha in each rotation of a crop rotation sequence. Nitrogen fertilization was kept on the same level on all experimental plots. Soil samples from the 0- to 20-cm horizon were collected after the third rotation crop, which was winter wheat harvested in 2015. It has been demonstrated that CUHW raised the soil total Cu content the highest, while the soil content of Zn was elevated the most by DPSS. The content of the remaining heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cr, Mn, and Fe) increased as well, but to a lesser extent. The soil abundance of phytoavailable forms of copper improved even greater (from 75% when fertilized with CUGW or CSS, up to 124% when treated with CUHW). Soil content of soluble forms of such metals as Zn, Pb, Cr, Mn, and Fe changed less. The content of all analyzed heavy metals in soil (a form approximating the total content) was significantly positively correlated with the content of organic carbon (C-org.). This is the evidence for stronger adsorption of the above elements in soil richer in organic matter. On the other hand, the content of available forms of heavy metals depended more on the soil pH than on its content of C-org.

The contribution of water extractable forms of plant nutrients to evaluate MSW compost maturity: a case study

“…Stabilized insoluble organic matter in a form of matured compost, when applied to the soil induces binding of metals and metalloids and therefore their immobilization. Low molecular organic substances present in unmatured product like organic acids, polyphenols cause either complexing or chelating of metals or metaloids, and the resulting bonds are characterized by movement throughout the soil 60 , 61 . Characteristics of organic matter will be the main object of the manuscript that is preparing yet for publication thus in this experiment authors focused on analysis of the water-soluble forms of macro- and microelements.…”

Foliar Application of Low Concentrations of Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles to the Common Sunflower under Field Conditions

“…The experimental field was deeply ploughed by Zetor 6211 tractor (Zetor Tractors, a. s., Brno, Czech Republic), where winter wheat had previously been cultivated. The soil was analysed before sunflower planting as in Hrivňáková et al [ 55 ], Wierzbowska et al [ 56 ], and Kováčik et al [ 57 ], and nitrogen-related soil species were determined colorimetrically as in Šimanský et al [ 58 ]. The soil characteristics are presented in Table 1 and Table 2 .…”

Availability of Trace Elements in Soil with Simulated Cadmium, Lead and Zinc Pollution

“…The increased availability of the metals indicates continuous soil enrichment in these elements [2]. According to Wierzbowska et al [13] and Jaafar et al [14], an elevated content of heavy metals in soil may not pose a threat depending on soil conditions. The mobility of trace elements in soil is controlled by numerous biochemical and chemical processes, and the strength of mutual relationships depends on a given metal [15,16].…”

“…The soil content of available trace metals depends on different factors, including soil reaction [8,[18][19][20][21][22][23], organic matter content [19,20,23,24], soil sorption complex capacity and cation exchange capacity [12,18,19,25], soil salinity [19], grain-size composition [26,27], content of carbonates [20] content of organic carbon and total nitrogen [25], iron and manganese compounds [17,28,29], the occurrence and activity of soil microorganisms [30], or the content of sulphate and phosphate [31,32] or aluminium compounds in the soil [33]. In addition, the content of available trace metals in the soil may be affected by fertilisation [13,31] or the application of mineral [32] and organic substances to soil [7,32]. Moreover, the content of metal soluble forms in the topsoil is closely correlated with the soil content of the total forms of these elements [8,33], which may become bioavailable when soil conditions change [1,34].…”