Application of sewage sludge to cropland: appraisal of potential hazards of the heavy metals to plants and animals

Book · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:6439661

Application of sewage sludge to cropland usually benefits agriculture because of the value of sludge as a soil conditioner and as a source of many essential plant nutrients. However, there is also the possibility that the heavy metals applied in the sludge might be toxic to crops and might increase the heavy-metal concentrations in edible crops sufficiently to have deleterious effects on animals and humans. The uptake of heavy metals from sludge-treated soils by plants and the implications for the food supply are discussed. The impact of heavy metals in sludges on plants, animals, and humans may be limited by using rational management methods and by proper selection of crops. Mn, Fe, Al, Cr, As, Se, Sb, Pb, and Hg pose relatively little hazard to crop production and plant accumulation when sludge is applied to soil because the availability of these elements to plants is low. Cd, Cu, Mo, Ni, and Zn can accumulate in plants and may pose a hazard under certain circumstances which are discussed in detail.

• OSTI ID: 6439661
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560303* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Plants-- (-1987)
560305 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Vertebrates-- (-1987)
560306 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ALUMINIUM
ANIMALS
ANTIMONY
ARSENIC
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
CADMIUM
CHEMISTRY
CHROMIUM
CONTAMINATION
COPPER
CROPS
DATA
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOOD CHAINS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INFORMATION
IRON
LEAD
MAMMALS
MAN
MANGANESE
MERCURY
METALS
MOLYBDENUM
NICKEL
NUMERICAL DATA
NUTRIENTS
PRIMATES
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SEWAGE
SEWAGE SLUDGE
SLUDGES
SOIL CHEMISTRY
SOILS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
UPTAKE
VERTEBRATES
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
WASTES
ZINC