Abstract
Accumulation of cadmium, nickel, chromium, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron by soybean from a sewage sludge-amended Enon soil was investigated in the glasshouse. Soybeans Glycine max (L.) of Bragg and Ransom varieties were grown in pots to the flowering stage, at which time the shoots were sampled for elemental analysis. The shoots were separated into leaves and stems, and then analysed for heavy metal concentrations. There was an increase in dry matter production by plants grown in sludge-amended soil, and concentrations of cadmium, nickel, chromium, copper and zinc were greater in soybean leaves and stems obtained from sludge-amended than control soils. Heavy metal concentration in soybean tissue increased with increasing levels of sludge. Accumulation of the heavy metals was consistently greater in the leaves than in the stems with the exception of nickel in Bragg soybeans. In general, there was greater accumulation of the heavy metals by Bragg than Ransom tissue. In the case of manganese, there was a decrease in concentration as the sludge rate increased in both the soybean varieties. Iron concentration decreased in Bragg leaves whereas it was unaffected in other tissues. The rate of heavy metal accumulation measured in this study was zinc > copper > nickel > chromium > cadmium.
Published Version
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