Accumulation of some heavy metals in soil and plants treated with municipal compost and sewage sludge
2000
Marjovvi, Alireza | Mohammadi, Alireza
Application of organic matter to soil in any form not only is not harmful but also should be promoted among farmers. However one should be worry about the possibility of contamination of arable lands by heavy metals from some kinds of organic matters. Municipal compost and sewage sludge is heterogeneous organic matters, which includes residual of photographic material, used batteries, cosmetic material and so on. The possibility of the presence of heavy metals in these compounds even in small quantity may increase their danger to soil and plant. For these reasons a field study was carried out in Rodasht research station, to determine the effects of compost and sludge on soil and plants by their application to soil. In a four years rotation, the effects of the organic matters were studied on sugarbeet, corn, onion and wheat. In a randomize complete block design with three replications, two compost treatments (25, 50 t/ha) and two sludge treatments (15, 30 t/ha) accompanied by a control were applied to each crop. The results showed that application of 50 t/ha compost gave reasonably the highest yields, and the other treatments, except 15 t/ha sludge ranked next. However the highest biological yield was produced by 50 t/ha sludge. The continuos application of organic matters during the experiment improved soil physical and chemical properties. For example, application sludge increased available P, and available K was increased by application of compost. Soil Pb, in compost treated plots considerably increased. In 50 t/ha compost treatment, soil Fe was the highest and in sludge (30 t/ha), soil Cu and Zn reached to the highest 2 level during experiment. Finally almost no obvious trends were found in regards to the amount of heavy metals in plants.
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