Extractable trace elements in the soil profile after years of biosolids application
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences
The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and some state agencies regulate trace element additions to soil from land application of biosolids. The authors generally consider trace elements added in biosolids (sewage sludge) to accumulate in the soil surface without significant transport below the plow layer. They used 11 yr of field-study information from biosolids addition to dryland hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Vona or TAM107) to determine the distribution of NH{sub 4}HCO{sub 3} diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA)-extractable Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn in 0 to 20 (plow layer), 20 to 60, 60 to 100, and 100 to 150 cm depth increments. This study is unique since it involves multiple biosolids application in a dryland summer fallow agroecosystem. The authors applied five or six applications of biosolids from the cities of Littleton and Englewood, CO, to Weld loam or Platner loam at four locations. This paper focuses on the 0 (control), the 56 or 67 kg of N ha{sup {minus}1} fertilizer rates, and the 6.7 and 26.8 dry Mg of biosolids ha{sup {minus}1} rates that they added every crop year. The authors observed significant (P < 0.10) accumulations of the trace elements in the plow layer of the biosolids-amended soils. Only Zn showed consistent increases in extractable levels below the plow layer at all four sites. The biosolids Zn concentration was larger than any other trace element resulting in larger loading of this element.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 290142
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 27, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Jul-Aug 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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