Studies on plant growth and metal bioaccumulation in crops on fly ash disposal site

Abstract

The fl ash contains average amounts of heavy metals: chromium (85 mg/kg dry matter (dm)), copper (62–67 mg/kg dm), nickel (50 mg/kg dm), lead (12–14 mg/kg dm), zinc (5–85 mg/kg dm) and iron (4.600–4.700 mg/kg dm). The municipal sludge compost added as fertilizer contains sufficient quantities of nutrients, which is enough material to increase the degree of plants germination and subsequent coverage of soils in common barley crop (Hordeum vulgare). three experimental variants have been used in barley crop: fl ash (variant I), fl ash together with 50 t/ ha compost (variant II) and fl ash with 150 t/ha compost (variant III). The addition of compost did not reduce the accumulation of chromium in barley straw but reduced its accumulation in grains. In the case of iron, the addition of compost has reduced the accumulation, both in grain and straw. The addition of 150 t/ha compost reduced heavy metals bioaccumulation of grain, and straw, each with 70%. The implementation of a strategy to cover the fl ash deposits with a vegetable coating of common barley crops can be easily and efficiently done through the use of fertilizers as sewage sludge compost and vegetable scraps from a vineyard.