U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            STUCZYNSKI, TOMASZ - ISSPC, PULAWY, POLANDitem
                                            SIEBIELEC, GRZEGORZ - ISSPC, PULAWY, POLANDitem
                                            DANIELS, W - VIRGINIA TECH, BLACKSBURGitem
                                            McCarty, Gregoryitem
                                            Chaney, Rufus
  Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/2007
                                    Publication  Date: 6/5/2007
                                    Citation: Stuczynski, T., Siebielec, G., Daniels, W.L., Mccarty, G.W., Chaney, R.L. 2007. Biological Aspects of Metal Waste Reclamation With Sewage Sludge. Journal of Environmental Quality. 36:1154-1162.Interpretive Summary: Industrial contamination of soils by heavy metals has commonly occurred at mine and smelter sites for non-ferrous metals.  We have developed and demonstrated the use of biosolids plus byproduct limestone and other by-products to alleviate metal toxicity to plants in order to achieve revegetation of such highly phytotoxic soils.  Six grass species were grown on the remediated soil and control treatments; little or no plant growth was observed on the untreated smelter waste, while the treated smelter waste supported grown of ryegrasses, tall fescue and Calamagrosis.  Besides revegetation, the soil ecological activites must be restored in such soils so that plant residues are degraded over time, and nutrients in plant residues are released for reuse by plants and other organisms.  The remediation treatments also alleviated adverse effects of the metals on soil biological activities such as phosphatase, dehydrogenase, urease and soil respiration.  Hay grown on the remediated soil and on an uncontaminated soil were fed to beef cattle to evaluate toxicity and metal residues in tissues of the cattle.  Cadmium was the focus of concern so control hay plus Cd equal to the remediated hay and control hay plus Cd and Zn equal to the remediated hay were fed for comparison.  These results indicated that Cd in the remediated hay caused little increase in tissue residues, while addition of Cd salt to the control hay caused a large increase in Cd in liver and kidney; addition of Zn with the Cd reduced the tissue Cd residues but not to the level in cattle which consumed the hay grown on remediated soil.  Overall, the studies showed that remediation of such highly metal phytotoxic soils could be achieved inexpensively, and cover crops growing on the site could be safely consumed by wildlife and even used as livestock feed.  The pronounced interaction between Cd and Zn in the cattle feeding test illustrates the large error in testing Cd risk if the simultaneous presence of Zn in the soil and plants are not taken into account.
                                Technical Abstract: Smelter waste deposits pose an environmental threat worldwide.  Sewage sludges are potentialy useful in reclamation of such sites.  Biological aspects of revegetation of Zn and Pb smelter wastelands are discussed in a paper.  The goal of the studies was to asses to what extent sludge treatment would support ecosystem functioning as measured by biological indicators such as enzyme activities of revegetated metal waste or plant growth.  Another crucial aspect was related to the assessment of metal transfer to the ecosystem which could affect the health of local fauna and also create a food chain risk.  A field experiment was conducted on a smelter waste deposit in Piekary Slaskie with two separate fields – established on Welz and Doerschel wastes.  The tested methods allowed revegetation of the fields - application of municipal sewage sludge at the rates 150-300 dry tons per hectare combined with the incorporation of lime in an oxide and carbonate form at the rate of 1.5 tons and 30 tons for Welz waste and use of a 30 cm by-product lime cap followed by incorporation of sewage sludge at a rate of 300 t ha-1 for more acidic Doerschel waste.  Studies on biological activities indicate the reclamation methods used as an effective way to establish new, fully-functioning ecosystems that support plant growth.  Forage crops grown on Zn, Cd and Pb contaminated sites reclaimed using lime and biosolids do not pose any particular risk for wildlife and food safety.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov