Effect of elemental sulphur on solubility of soil heavy metals and their uptake by maize

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to study the influence of elemental sulphur (S) on solubility of soil Pb, Zn and Cd and uptake by maize ( Zea mays L.). Two rates of elemental sulphur (S) applied at 0 (S 0) and 200 (S 200) mmol kg −1 soil with three rates of each heavy metal at Pb, 0 (Pb 0), 200 (Pb 200), 400 (Pb 400) mg kg −1 soil, Zn, 0 (Zn 0), 100 (Zn 100), 200 (Zn 200) mg kg −1 soil and Cd, 0 (Cd 0), 50 (Cd 50), 100 (Cd 100) mg kg −1 soil, respectively. The result showed that with S application at 200 mmol S kg −1, soil pH decreased about 0.3 unit and the solubility of the Zn and Cd was significantly increased, but the solubility of Pb had no significant influence. The concentration of Pb, Zn and Cd in maize shoots and roots were increased with increasing rates of heavy metals. However, the concentration of Zn and Cd in shoots and roots were higher with application of S rather than without S but no significant difference was found for Pb. The highest concentration of Zn in the shoots was 2.3 times higher with application of S rather than without at the same rate of Zn, 200 mg kg −1. Plant biomass was also significantly affected by the application of S and of heavy metals. With heavy metal addition, the shoot and root biomass were decreased with the rates of those of heavy metals increased either with or without application of S. However, the shoot biomass was significantly decreased with S application at the same rate of heavy metals except that with Zn addition. The removal of Cd and Pb by maize uptake and accumulation with application of S had no significant increase compared to that without, but the removal Zn by maize uptake from the soil increased by application of S, 90.9 μg plant −1 contrast to 25.7 μg plant −1 at Zn 200 within a growth period of only 40 days.