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fSoilScience, 1993,44,97-110
SUMMARY
A pot experiment was conducted to compare the behaviour and bioavailability of Cd and
Pb from two soils mixed with sewage sludge at three rates (0, 50 and 150 t ha-') and
maintained at two contrasting ambient temperatures (15C and 25C) over a period of one
year following the treatments. Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) accumulated Cd and Pb in the
sewage sludge treated soils, although accumulation was significantly lower in the soils
treated at the high rate (1 50 t ha- I ) compared to the low rate (50 t ha - I ) . Ryegrass grown
in the warm environment (25C) accumulated significantly higher levels of Cd and Pb than
that grown in cooler conditions (1 5OC). Samples of the soils spiked with nitrate salts of Cd
and P b a t equivalent rates of metal loading resulted in the ryegrass accumulating much
higher levels of both the metals than on the sludge treated soils.
Metal uptake by the ryegrass from the sludge treatments increased over successive
harvests while that from metal salt treatments decreased. The observed trend of increasing
plant metal uptake over time coincided with a trend of decreasing pH in the sludge
treatments. However, the concentrations of Cd and Pb extracted by DTPA failed to
predict the changes in plant metal uptake. The importance of sewage sludge as both a
source and a sink of pollutant metals and the trend of increasing bioavailability over time
shown by this experiment are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
The disposal of sewage sludge on agricultural land is increasing throughout the world. Although
sewage sludge contains agronomically useful amounts of N and P, and has valuable soil conditioning properties (Epstein, 1975; Chang et al., 1983), the concentrations of several potentially harmful
contaminants commonly found in sludges limit the extent to which they can be applied to land.
These contaminants include trace metals such as Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn and organic micropollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls. There is a
significant risk that some of these contaminants will affect human health by accumulation in food
crops. This is particularly important in the case of trace metals, such as Cd, which has a relatively
high bioavailability. Of the factors known to control the bioavailability of sludge-borne trace
metals, soil pH (Mahler et a/., 1980; Narwal et al., 1983; Eriksson, 1989; Alloway et a/., 1990;
Jackson & Alloway, 1991), concentration of sludge-borne metals (Rappaport et al., 1988), organic
matter (Maclean, 1976), and temperature appear to be most important.
Studies on the changes in the bioavailability of trace metals with time have generally shown that
anomalously high concentrations of many metals remain available for several years after the application of sludges (McGrath, 1987; Alloway & Jackson, 1991). Several authors found that metal
availability remained more o r less the same (Chang et a/., 1982; McGrath, 1987), whereas others
reported decreases after the last sludge application (Hinesly et al., 1979; Bidwell & Dowdy, 1987;
Morel et a/., 1988). Some authors reported increases in availability with time, at least for some
97
98
elements, such as M o (Soon & Bates, 1985) and Ni (Korcak & Fanning, 1985). De Haan (1975)
predicted that the availability of sludge-derived metals in most soils will eventually increase due to
acidification by nitrification and leaching. However, it is now the normal practice to maintain the
p H of sludged soils at around 6.5. Several workers have also reported that the bioavailability of
metals from soils spiked with metal salts is much greater than that of the equivalent amounts of
mctals in sludged soils (Mahler et al., 1980; Korcak & Fanning, 1985). This is an important
consideration because metal contamination from sewage sludge is often simulated by spiking with
metals.
The fate of metals added to soils in sewage sludges will depend upon the chemical processes
operative in the stabilization period after sludge application. It was therefore considered important
to study changes in soil chemical parameters during this period and to assess thcir influence on
bioavailability of the metals. The objectives of the investigations were: (i) to measure the changes
over a twelve month period in soil pH and organic matter in the different treatments; (ii) to follow
trends of bioaccumulation of Cd and Pb by ryegrass; (iii) to measure amounts of Cd and Pb
extracted by DTPA; (iv) to compare the bioaccumulation of equivalent concentrations of Cd and Pb
from sludged and metal-spiked soils; and (v) to assess the effects of markedly different ambient
tcmpcraturcs on the chemistry and bioavailability of added metals.
MATERIALS A N D METHODS
Soil treutments
Bulk samples of topsoil (0-1 5 cm) wcre collected from two sitcs on agricultural land in England and
thcir propcrties are shown in Table I . Onc was a sandy soil from a farm near Thetford in the
Breckland region of East Anglia. This was a brown sand of the Worlington/Methwold series
developed on decalcified glacial drift overlying chalk. The other soil was sandy loam of the
Bursledon series (gleyed brown earth) on drift over Eocene clay from a pasture near Brentwood in
Essex. The bulk samples of soil were air dried, sieved ( < 5 mm coarse nylon mesh) and thoroughly
homogenised. The soils were mixed with the appropriate amounts of sludge or metal salt solutions
and allowed to air dry before further grinding and sieving (<2 mm). 4.6 kg of air-dry soil mixture
was added to each PVC pot.
Table 1. Some physico-chemical properties of the soils and sludge
Variahlc
PH ( H P )
Organic matterJ (g kg
LOI"(g kg I)
Bulk dcnsity (kg m ')
CEC (cmol, kg I )
Sand (g kg I)
Silt (g kg I)
Clay (gkg 7
FIee Mn (pg g I )
Reducible Fc (pg g I)
Zil
cu
Pb
Ni
Cd
Sandy loam
I)
5.4
36. I
62.0
1.18
18.94
586
207
177
I18
I200
58.16
18.25
52.10
16.1 1
0.45
Breckland sand
6.58
14.1
19.7
I .45
4.75
922
47
5
77
200
Total Metal (pg g
27.40
7.70
14.38
7.63
0.12
Sludge
5.92
_.
556.5
0.63
~
I)
1408
1031
706
259
40
Bioavailahility of Cd and Ph
99
A sample of anaerobically digested liquid sewage sludge was obtained from a sewage works in an
urban area and mixed with the two soils a t proportions equivalent to the following field application
rates: control (no sludge), 'low' sludge rate (50 t ha-') and a 'high' rate (150 t ha-'). Equivalent
amounts of Cd and Pb nitrate solutions were added to other samples of soil to give the same low and
high loadings of metals as in the sludge treatments. The resultant metal concentrations under the
different treatments are given in Table 2.
Table 2. Cadmium and lead concentration (pg g- I) in the soils resulting from sewage sludge
application and metal-salt spiking
Sandy loam
Treatment
Sewage sludge application
Control (0 t ha-')
Low sludge (50 t ha ')
High sludge (1 50 t ha I)
Metal-salt spiking
Low spiking
High spiking
Breckland sand
Cd
Pb
Cd
Pb
0.45
2.02
5.66
53.1
77.13
131.82
0.12
2.00
5.62
13.7
42.5
97.1
2.43
6.07
82.1
142.2
2.04
5.85
42.6
100.4
In ordcr to investigate the effects of temperature, triplicate pots of each treatment were placed in
a cool and a warm environment. The warm environment was provided in a greenhouse with the
ambicnt temperature controlled at 25 f3C but with daylight hours varying according to season.
For the cool environment, another set of triplicate pots were placed in a growth chamber where the
temperature was 15 & 2C with 12 h daylight.
Pot experiments
The pot experiments commenced in January 1990 and on the first day (Day 0) each pot was
saturated with deionised-distilled water and thereafter the pots were irrigated regularly in order to
keep the soil moist during the experiments. Pots in the warm environment normally required
irrigation twice a week but those in cool conditions needed irrigation only once a week. After an
equilibration period of 1 month, ryegrass was sown as a test crop to compare the bioavailability of
thc metals in different treatments. All experimental pots received a small startcr treatment of
powdered compound fertilizer supplying small amounts of N, P and K. The first cut of ryegrass was
made 6 weeks after sowing and thereafter the grass was cut at intervals of 4 weeks. The harvcstcd
ryegrass samples were washed with distilled water followed by a rinse in deionised-distilled water
before drying at 65C.
Composite soil samples were taken at a depth of 0-7.5 cm from all the treatments on days 1 , 15,
30,60, 120,240, and 360. These soil samples were air dried and passed through a 2-mm mesh prior to
analysis.
Soil analyses
The total concentrations of trace metals in soil and sludge samples (i
2 mm) were determined in
filtered extracts obtained from I -g samples of those materials which were digested in concentrated
hydrofluoric and perchloric acids (Tessier et al., 1979). All samples were prepared and analysed in
duplicate with reagent blanks. Subsamples of the certified reference materials, sludged soil BCR No.
143 and lake sediment IAEA SL-1, were used in all batches of samples analysed for quality control.
Trace metal concentrations in all final solutions were determined by flame atomic absorption
spcctrometry using an IL (Thermoelectron) S12 atomic absorption spectrophotometer with Smith
Hieftje background correction.
I00
The hydrous Mn oxide contents of the soils were determined after extraction of the soils with
hydroxylamine hydrochloride (Chao, 1972) and hydrous Fe oxide contents by extraction with
sodium dithionite (Avery & Bascomb, 1974). The soil parameters measured were: texture by the
pipette method (Day, 1965), pH in distilled water (1:2.5 w/v), bulk density (Avery & Bascomb,
1974), organic matter content, calcium carbonate equivalence and cation exchange capacity (Hesse,
1971). Data for thc soil and sludge physico-chemical parameters are presented in Table I . The soil
samples taken from all the treatments at regular intervals during the experiments were analysed for
pH, organic matter content and metals extracted by 0.005 M diethylenetriaminepentaaceticacid
(DTPA) (Lindsay & Norvell, 1978).
Plant analyses
For plant tissue analysis, only samples from the first, third, sixth and ninth harvests were analysed.
The washed and dried samples were finely ground and stored in acid-washed sample bottles.
Subsamples (0.5 g) of milled tissue wcrc digested in a concentrated HN0,-HCIO, (AristaR gradc,
BDH Chemicals) mixture prior to determination of Cd and Pb by atomic absorption spectrometry.
All of thc plant analyses were carried out in standard batch formats. Replicate anatyses of all the
samples were made together with reagent blanks and the certified reference materials (CRMs)
aquatic plant tissue BCR No. 60, olive leaves BCR No. 62 and tomato leaves NBS No. 1573 for
quality control. Thc observed C R M valucs were within the certified ranges of the metals. For Cd,
all the solutions were analysed first by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), but those
with Cd concentrations below the detection limit of FAAS were subsequently analysed by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The low concentrations of Pb in
the ryegrass samples necessitated that all Pb analysis be made by ETAAS.
Statistical analyses
Metal concentrations in plants and soils under different sewage sludge and metal salt spiking
treatments were evaluated by the least significant difference (LSD) test. Nearly all the interactions
were statistically significant a t PGO.01 or P<0.05.
RESULTS
Grass growth was slower in the cool environment compared to the warm environment. The higher
rate of sludge application enhanced ryegrass growth but in the spiked soil treatments ryegrass was
stunted and chlorotic. The chlorosis was most severe in the high rate of metal spiking where the
plants failed to tiller and had to be resown after every harvest.
The addition of sewage sludge to the soils increased the soil organic matter contents substantially
(Fig. I ) . Although thc organic matter contents decreased rapidly in the first 50 d aftcr mixing, they
showed only a very gradual decrease over the rest of the year and remained much higher than the
respective controls at the end of the period. A similar increase in soil organic matter content after
sludge application, followed by a 50% decline due to decomposition, was reported by Robertson
et al. (1982). Soil pH values were also affected by the sludge applications. In the sandy loam, the pH
incrcased from pH 5.4 to 6.8 initially, but decreased rapidly (Fig. 2) in the first 30 d and the pH of the
low sludge treatment decreased to less than that of the control after 100 d. After an initial slight
increasc, the p H of the Breckland sand decreased significantly below that of the control and
remained like this for the rest of the year (Fig. 2). Decreases in the pH of soils amended with sewage
sludge h a w been widely reported in the literature (Silviera & Sommers, 1977; Robertson et al.,
1982). All the soils spiked with metal salts showed decreased soil p H values in the early stages. A year
after spiking, the p H of Breckland sand was similar to its control whereas the pH of the spiked sandy
loam remained lower than that of its control.
Bioavailahility of Cd and Ph
101
4-1
resulted in substantial increases in the concentrations of these metals in the ryegrass tissue relative to
the controls. The amounts of both Cd and Pb accumulated in the plants on the spiked soils were
several timcs higher than those in the sludge-treated soils (Tables 3 and 4). Similar differences in Cd
and Zn accumulation in maize tissue were observed by Korcak & Fanning (1985) while invcstigating
metal accumulation from sludged and metal-spiked soils. As shown in Tables 3 and 4, the differences
in metal loadings between the high and low metal-spiked soils were closely reflected in the concentrations of the metals in the ryegrass. In contrast to the spiking treatments, the concentrations of
metals accumulated in the ryegrass on the sludge-treated soils were actually lower in the high sludge
trcatments (150 t ha-') than in the low sludge treatment (50 t ha-') in both cool and warm environments (Fig. 3). This could be due in part to a certain amount of dilution resulting from a slightly
increased growth of grass at the high rate of sludge. However, these findings would appear to
support the conclusions of Corey et al. (1987) that the sewage sludge matrix acts as a major
adsorptive tnedium for metals in sludged soils. The higher the amount of sludge applied, thc greater
the total adsorptive capacity of the soil for trace metals, at least in the short term. In the spiking
treatments, where no additional adsorptive material was added to the soils, the different adsorptive
capacitics of the soils themselves control the bioavailability of the metals. It is also important to note
that no significant differences were found between the accumulation of Cd in ryegrass on either the
sludge-treated Brcckland sand or the sandy loam (Table 3), but in the spiking treatments C d uptake
was significantly higher from the Breckland sand and Pb uptake greatest from the sandy loam
(Table 4). Hence the sandy loam with greater clay and hydrous Mn and Fe oxide contents gives rise
102
4 1
0
I00
200
30 0
I0
Fig. 2. Changes in soil pH resulting from sewage sludge application: (a) Breckland sand; (b) Sandy loam.
0 control, low sludge, A high sludge.
Bioavailability of Cd and Ph
103
Table 3. Mean uptake of cadmium (pg g- DW) by ryegrass grown on sludged and metal-salt spiked soils under
two growing environmentsd
1st Harvest
3rd Harvest
6th Harvest
9th Harvest
Treatmcn 1
Coal
Warm
Cool
Warm
Cool
Warm
Cool
Warm
0.33
0.86
0.60
2.41
9.40
0.74
1.68
1.47
3.78
15.11
0.25
0.70
0.55
3.43
7.09
0.53
2.50
2.81
3.84
12.59
0.25
0.99
0.87
3.54
7.87
0.45
2.65
2.75
4.35
13.78
0.23
1.08
1.05
3.55
7.52
0.39
2.88
2.76
4.37
14.21
Brcckland sand
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
0.32
1.02
0.83
4.45
9.43
0.41
1.59
1.30
6.78
17.84
0.25
1.05
0.77
3.27
6.80
0.28
1.73
2.64
5.66
15.97
0.17
1.79
0.89
3.91
8.78
0.28
2.40
2.70
4.54
16.05
0.17
1.65
1.08
3.72
9.07
0.28
2.46
2.85
4.58
15.09
Table 4. Mean uptake of lead (pg g I DW) by ryegrass grown on sludged and metal-salt spiked soils under two
growing environments
1st Harvest
3rd Harvest
6th Harvest
9th Harvest
Treatment
Cool
Warm
Cool
Warm
Cool
Warm
Cool
Warm
Sandy loam
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
0.193
0.273
0.218
0.731
2.056
0.240
0.519
0.409
1.174
2.279
0.252
0.357
0.274
0.627
1.426
0.294
0.762
0.762
1.297
2.115
0.189
0.430
0.413
0.700
1.413
0.272
0.909
0.918
1.189
2.005
0.197
0.489
0.537
0.663
1.287
0.212
1.014
0.999
1.315
2.171
Breckland sand
Control
Low sludge
High sludgc
Low spiking
High spiking
0.092
0.170
0.120
0.652
1.603
0.128
0.348
0.315
0.957
1.924
0.101
0.192
0.097
0.464
1.424
0.166
0.347
0.365
1.144
1.861
0.098
0.253
0.232
0.473
1.315
0.176
0.435
0.456
1.332
1.804
0.107
0.364
0.251
0.540
1.360
0.202
0.420
0.454
1.277
2.006
All thc treatments and their interactions were significantly different at PG0.05
ovcr the successive harvests in relation to the first cut (Fig. 4). Although Cd accumulation data
showed a significant decrease (PgO.01) over time in the controls and metal-spiked treatments
(Table 3), Cd uptake from the sludge treatments increased over the residual period (Fig. 4). The rate
of increase in Cd uptake over the time period was greater from the high sludge treatment than the
low sludge treatment, but the concentrations of the metal were still lower from the high sludge
treatments. Nevertheless, the magnitude of difference in Cd uptake between high and low sludge
treatments was greater in the first cut than in subsequent cuts (Table 3).
104
s'
a
I50
-I
Ul
100
Y
a,
050
0 00
0.60 I
0
s'
a
50
040
IUl
030
Y
a,
Y
0.20
a
0.10
0.00
0
50
150
Fig. 3. Cadmium (a) and lead (b) uptake by ryegrass from the sludge-amended soils. W cool(loam), El warm(loam), n cool (sand), H warm(sand).
As shown in Table 4 and Fig. 4, Pb uptake increased over time from all the treatments, except the
high metal-spiked soils. It is important to recognise that the difference in the physiological age of the
ryegrass sampled from the high metal-spiked soil treatments may influence the comparison of plant
uptake data from different harvests on spiked and sludged treatments. As a result of resowing the
ryegrass due to the phytotoxic effects of the high metal spikes, the grass was physiologically young
while that on the other treatments was up to one year old. As with Cd, there was hardly any
difference in Pb uptake from the two sludge treatments in the cuts of ryegrass taken a year after the
application of the sewage sludge (Fig. 4). The results indicated that the accumulation of Cd and Pb
from the sludge treatments over the residual time period was still gradually increasing. Other
workers have also demonstrated the increased plant accumulation of sludge-borne metals with time
after sludge application (Schaurer et al., 1980;Narwal et al., 1983),but Chang et al. (1982,1987) and
Sanders et al. (1987) did not find this.
Accumulation ratios
The mean accumulation ratios for Cd and Pb in different treatments are given in Table 5. The
accumulation ratio is defined as the concentration of an element in plant tissue relative to its total
concentration in the soil. The accumulation ratios in the control treatments show Cd to be between
200 and 440 times more readily accumulated than Pb. In the sludge and metal-spiking treatments,
Cd tends to have accumulation ratios between 60 and 160 times greater than Pb. These higher
accumulation ratios indicate that Cd is much more likely to accumulate in the food crops grown on
Bioavailability of Cd and Ph
100
105
10
Fig. 4. A comparison of Cd (a) and Pb (b) uptake by ryegrass from sandy soil amended with sludge and spiked
- x - low sludge, -Alow salt, -0- high sludge, -A- high salt.
with metal salts. --n-control,
contaminated soils than Pb. The accumulation ratios clearly show that the relative uptake of the
metals decreases with sludge application rate. At the high sludge rate (150 t ha-') the accumulation
ratio for Cd is 4 times lower than that for the low sludge application rate (50 t ha-'), whereas for Pb
the factor is little over 2 (Table 5). Accumulation ratios for the Cd and Pb treatments in the warm
environmcnt are around twice as high as those in the cool environment.
D T P A extractability
Partial extractions with the chelating agent DTPA have been used by many workers as a prediction
of the amounts of metals which are bioavailable. The data in Tables 6 and 7 show that the concentrations of DTPA-extractable Cd and Pb increased markedly as a result of the addition of the metals
in both sewage sludge and metal spikes. However, DTPA-extractable Cd and Pb concentrations
were more than twice as high in the metal salt-spiked soils compared to the equivalent sludged soils.
Increased extraction of metals by DTPA with increasing rate of sewage sludge or metal salt additions
is well documented in the literature (Schauer et al., 1980; Korcak & Fanning, 1985; Rappaport et al.,
1988). DTPA extraction data from all the periodic samplings, averaged over treatments, showed
that both the Cd and Pb were extracted in higher amounts from the sandy loam soil than from the
Breckland sand (Tables 6 and 7). DTPA-extractable concentrations of Cd and Pb from all the
treatments in the cool environment were slightly higher than those from the warm environment.
Howevcr, the effects of temperature on metal extractability were not clear when compared within a
106
Sandy loam
Treatment
Breckland sand
Cd
Pb
Cd
Pb
0.73
0.42
0.10
0.99
1.55
0.0036
0.0035
0.0016
0.0089
0.0144
2.66
0.52
0.14
2.18
1.59
0.006
0.004
0.001
0.015
0.016
1.62
0.82
0.26
1.56
2.49
0.0045
0.0067
0.0031
0.0143
0.0160
3.25
1.26
0.23
3.32
3.04
0.0093
0.0081
0.0032
0.0227
0.0191
Cool environment
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
Warm environment
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
~~
2.34
5.98
2.42
6.20
0.06
0.89
2.08
1.74
5.06
Low spiking
High spiking
Breckland sand
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
0.06
0.85
2.13
1.68
5.11
2.14
6.01
0.18
0.94
2.25
0.05
0.73
1.85
1.67
4.99
2.28
5.97
0.18
1.10
2.25
Day 15
0.06
0.79
2.17
1.69
5.05
2.39
6.23
0.18
1.11
2.58
0.06
0.81
2.10
1.68
4.99
2.19
5.85
0.18
1.06
2.43
Day 30
0.06
0.81
2.11
1.61
4.83
2.32
6.39
0.19
1.20
2.59
0.06
0.91
2.22
1.64
5.05
2.26
6.20
0.19
1.10
2.71
Day 60
0.05
0.70
1.93
1.65
5.02
2.24
6.36
0.18
1.02
2.40
0.06
0.74
2.23
1.17
4.97
2.01
6.12
0.18
1.06
2.24
Day 120
0.06
0.98
2.22
1.69
4.79
2.40
6.37
0.18
1.14
2.40
0.06
0.81
2.23
1.59
4.83
0.18
1.21
2.77
2.32
6.08
Day 240
"C and W represent cool (1 5 & 2C) and warm (25 3C) growing environments, respectively.
bAllthe treatments except time, temperature x time, temperature x treatment and time x treatment were significantly different at P< 0.05.
0.05
0.90
1.88
1.76
5.03
0.17
0.96
2.20
0.18
0.94
2.28
Sandy loam
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Treatmentb
Day 1
0.06
0.99
2.31
1.64
4.94
0.06
0.82
2.10
1.56
5.03
2.16
2.18
5.90
2.44
2.36
6.26
w
0.19
1.41
Day 360
0.20
1.31
Table 6. Changes in DTPA-extractable Cd (pg g-') as affected by sludge application and metal-salt spiking under two ambient temperatures"
2n
=:
c
5
-.
Tf?.
12.0
16.3
29.8
39.1
67.0
1.1
11.6
27.0
20.5
66.2
Sandy loam
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
Breckland sand
Control
Low sludge
High sludge
Low spiking
High spiking
1.2
12.4
26.5
20.5
65.3
29.3
37.9
65.9
12.4
16.9
1.1
10.6
26.4
18.3
59.5
29.1
37.6
67.3
12.9
16.2
1.1
10.3
22.3
18.3
56.1
26.2
35.7
64.6
11.7
18.4
Day 15
1.2
9.0
28.1
18.1
57.6
30.6
38.0
59.0
13.7
18.3
1.2
10.7
23.5
15.6
54.1
27.7
35.7
62.1
13.2
17.6
Day 30
"All the treatments and their interactions were significantly different at P < 0.05
Treatment"
Day 1
1.0
9.5
24.9
16.4
55.7
25.6
35.7
62.4
13.5
18.2
1.2
9.9
22.9
17.5
54.1
27.3
35.0
56.1
13.5
16.3
Day 60
1.1
9.6
23.9
18.2
56.0
13.4
16.1
28.6
34.3
55.7
1.1
9.0
21.2
18.0
56.0
13.3
15.3
23.3
33.6
53.1
1.2
10.0
25.0
18.3
52.0
25.9
36.8
58.5
13.2
16.4
1.3
8.6
22.2
15.5
56.6
25.5
33.0
56.6
12.4
15.3
Day 240
Day 120
Table 7. Changes in DTPA-extractable Pb (pg g-') as affected by sludge application and metal-salt spiking under two ambient temperatures
1.2
10.5
23.1
17.1
52.3
27.8
34.7
56.2
13.1
19.2
1.3
10.3
23.0
15.9
52.4
24.1
32.6
57.9
13.0
15.3
Day 360
"t(
&
B
a
%
0
t,
Bioavailability of Cd and Pb
109
change in Cd extractability over time, and of any effect of temperature o n the extraction, together
with a clear decreasing trend in Pb extractability, suggests that the DTPA soil test is not very suitable
for predicting the trends in metal bioavailability under the conditions of this experiment. However,
it has been known for some time that plants grown in pots tend to accumulate trace metals to a
greater extent than they d o under field conditions. Nevertheless, although the data for metal
accumulation by ryegrass in these experiments may not be directly comparable to field conditions,
the trends indicated are likely to be highly relevant.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn from the experiment reported here:
1 . The addition of Cd and P b to soils in either sewage sludge or metal salts resulted in increased
concentrations of these metals in ryegrass, but accumulation was greatest from the metal-spiked
soils.
2. The uptake of metals by ryegrass from all treatments was significantly higher from the pots in
the warm environment (25C) than from those in the cool environment (15OC).
3. In the sewage sludge treated soils, accumulation of both metals by ryegrass in the cool
environment was significantly lower from the soils treated with sewage sludge at the high rate
(I 50 t ha..') than the accumulation from a low sludge rate (50 t ha-'). Although this could possibly
be due in part to dilution through increased dry matter production, it also appears to highlight the
importance of sewage sludge acting as both a source and a highly adsorptive medium for trace
metals.
4. Accumulation of Cd and P b from the sewage sludge treated soils increased during the residual
period and this appeared to coincide with a decrease in pH.
5 . DTPA-extractable Cd and P b concentrations did not reflect the changes in metal uptake by
ryegrass associated with temperature, time and sludge rate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
One of us (PSH) was in receipt of a n Academic Staff Award from The Association of
Commonwealth Universities (UK).
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