Abstract

AbstractDisposal of municipal sludge on cropland raises the question of availability to plants of Cd which is often much more concentrated in sludges compared to native levels in soil. In a greenhouse experiment, Cd added in a factorial design with heated anaerobically digested sewage sludge and Cd acetate as factors was readily available to the soybean plant (Glycine max L.) where it was translocated to aerial parts, accumulating up to 18 ppm in the mature plant. Incremental additions of sewage sludge tended to depress the Cd levels observed in the mature plant and seed. Cd contents in the plant at harvest and in seed were directly related to soil levels extractable by 0.1/V HCl. Seed levels of about 1.0 ppm Cd produced by application of 144 metric tons/ha of sludge solids were not within toxic limits reported in the literature.

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