Effect of Immobilizing Substances and Salinity on Heavy Metals Availability to Wheat Grown on Sewage Sludge-Contaminated Soil

The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of immobilizing substances and NaCl salinity on the availability of heavy metals: Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Pb to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In greenhouse pot experiment, a sewage sludge amended soil was treated with the following immobilizing substances: three clay minerals (Na-bentonite, Ca-bentonite and zeolite), iron oxides (goethite and hematite), and phosphate fertilizers (superphosphate and Novaphos). The pots were planted with wheat and were irrigated either with deionized or saline water containing 1600 mg L−1 NaCl. Wheat was harvested two times for shoot metal concentrations and biomass measurements. Metal species in soil solution were estimated using the software MINEQL+. The addition of metal immobilizing substances to the soil significantly decreased metal availability to wheat. The largest reduction in metal bioavailability was found for bentonites. The irrigation with saline water (1600 mg L−1 NaCl) resulted in a significant increase in metal chloride species (MCl+ and MCl2 0). The highest metal complexation with Cl occurred for Cd, which was about 53% of its total soil solution concentration. The total concentration of Cd (CdT) in soil solution increased by 1.6–2.8-fold due to saline water. The NaCl salinity caused a significant increase in uptake and shoot concentration of Cd for two harvests and small but significant increase in shoot Pb concentration for the second harvest. It was concluded that the use of bentonites is the most promising for the reduction of heavy metal availability to plants. Saline water containing 1600 mg L− 1 NaCl increased the availability of Cd and Pb to wheat and decreased the efficiency of bentonites to immobilize soluble Cd. Keywords: Heavy metal speciesclay minerals (Na-bentonite, Ca-bentonite, and zeolite)iron oxidesphosphate fertilizersNaCl salinityheavy metals uptake. We thank Dr. A. Lehmann for the information provided about the contaminated soil, and Dr. M. Zarei and D. Frobel for analysis of clay mineralogy. We are very thankful to Fa. IKO Minerals GmbH for using their bentonites and zeolite and Bayer for using its Fe-Oxides. We are very thankful to the reviewers for the useful comments. This work was partly funded by the Egyptian government.