Ecological assessment of soil using a soil elutriate and the perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne
- IT Corp., Somerset, NJ (United States)
A 28-day plant bioassay using the perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne, was utilized for an ecological assessment of soil from a hazardous waste site. An elutriate of the test soil was prepared and nutrients added, so that the seedlings would have direct exposure via uptake and to control for poor plant growth due to a lack of nutrients or proper soil profile characteristics. Use of an elutriate as the exposure medium assumes that those contaminants that can become waterborne for uptake by plants in the site conditions is the same as those which can be separated from adsorption to soil particulates during elutriate preparation. The ryegrass seeds were planted in a hydroponic system consisting of an upper chamber with an inert soil for a growth matrix and a lower reservoir with the nutrient and soil elutriate. Polyester cords were used to continuously wick the solution up to the inert soil and the chambers were drenched twice daily with the solution in the reservoir. At the conclusion of the study the plants` shoot length and dry weight (biomass) were measured to assess phytotoxicity of constituents in soil. The results of the test plants parameters were statistically compared to control plants to determine if test soil elutriates caused a measurable effect on ryegrass, The results of this plant bioassay provided additional and useful information for assessment of test soil.
- OSTI ID:
- 367537
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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