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Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in tropical soils amended with sewage sludge and composted sewage sludge

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Abstract

Sewage sludge may be used as an agricultural fertilizer, but the practice has been criticized because sludge may contain trace elements and pathogens. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of total and pseudototal extractants of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn, and to compare the results with the bioavailable concentrations of these elements to maize and sugarcane in a soil that was amended with sewage sludge for 13 consecutive years and in a separate soil that was amended a single time with sewage sludge and composted sewage sludge. The 13-year amendment experiment involved 3 rates of sludge (5, 10, and 20 t ha−1). The one-time amendment experiment involved treatments reflecting 50, 100, and 200 % of values stipulated by current legislation. The metal concentrations extracted by aqua regia (AR) were more similar to those obtained by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 3052 than to those obtained by EPA3051, and the strongest correlation was observed between pseudo(total) concentrations extracted by AR and EPA3052 and bioavailable concentrations obtained by Mehlich III. An effect of sewage sludge amendment on the concentrations of heavy metals was only observed in samples from the 13-year experiment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) for a Ph.D. grant awarded to the first author, and Brazil’s National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for a research grant provided to the second and fourth authors. The third author was funded by CNPq Project Grant no. 575025/2008-5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Student in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, University of Sao Paulo (ESALQ/USP), P.O.Box. 9, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, 13418-900

    Roberta Corrêa Nogueirol

  2. Department of Technology, Sao Paulo State University, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

    Wanderley José de Melo

  3. Researcher at the Paulista Agribusiness Technology Agency, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Edna Ivani Bertoncini

  4. Department of Soil Science, ESALQ/USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Luís Reynaldo Ferracciú Alleoni

  5. Department of Soil Science, University of Sao Paulo, ESALQ/USP, C.P. 9, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, 13418-900

    Roberta Corrêa Nogueirol

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  1. Roberta Corrêa Nogueirol
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  2. Wanderley José de Melo
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  3. Edna Ivani Bertoncini
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  4. Luís Reynaldo Ferracciú Alleoni
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Correspondence to Roberta Corrêa Nogueirol.

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Nogueirol, R.C., de Melo, W.J., Bertoncini, E.I. et al. Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in tropical soils amended with sewage sludge and composted sewage sludge. Environ Monit Assess 185, 2929–2938 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2761-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2761-3

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