Heterozygous tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var. xanthi) plants were cultivated in soil from a dump site highly polluted with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at Lhenice in South Bohemia, Czech Republic. The total amount of PCBs in the polluted soil, measured by gas chromatography varied from 165 to 265mgkg(-1) of soil. In tobacco plants cultivated for 8 weeks in the polluted soil the amount of PCB...

Sugar mills plays a major role in polluting the water bodies and land by discharging a large amount of wastewater as effluent. The sugar mill effluents are having higher amount of suspended solids, dissolved solids, BOD, COD, chloride sulphate, nitrates, calcium and magnesium. The continuous use of these effluents harmfully affect the crops when used for irrigation. As a result, a higher amount...

One-year-old seedlings of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) were grown in pots filled with a soil substrate that originated from an area polluted by a phosphate fertiliser factory and characterised by a high soil Al level and low Ca/Al ratio or with a substrate from an area regarded as free from toxic pollution. In addition the effect of fertilisation with a mixture of nutrients was evaluated...

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of stress (contamination trials) on the microorganisms in zinc-polluted soil (5,018 mg Zn kg(-1) soil dry weight) and unpolluted soil (141 mg Zn kg(-1) soil dw), measured as soil respiration rate. In the laboratory, soils were subjected to copper contamination (0, 500, 1,500 and 4,500 mg kg(-1) soil dw), and then a bactericide (oxytetracycline) co...

Soil microorganisms may be both sensitive and resilient to various disturbances. The effects of a single stressor on soil microorganisms have been well studied, but only limited research has been carried out to test the effects of simultaneous action of diverse stressors. Soil samples were collected from a long-term polluted zinc and lead site and an unpolluted site. Modeling studies assumed sp...

The effect of pig iron slag particles on soil physico-chemical, biological and certain soil enzyme properties was studied. Contamination of iron slag particles altered physico-chemical, biological and enzyme properties of soil. While soil pH increased slightly, electrical conductivity, carbon, potassium and phosphorus contents increased significantly in polluted soil. Contamination of soil with...

(Received: November 27, 2010; Accepted: February 9, 2011) Abstract: The effect of pig iron slag particles on soil physico-chemical, biological and certain soil enzyme properties was studied. Contamination of iron slag particles altered physico-chemical, biological and enzyme properties of soil. While soil pH increased slightly, electrical conductivity, carbon, potassium and phosphorus contents ...

To assess the problems posed by ecological testing of the toxicity of polluted soils, we applied the Collembola reproduction test to the soil from a mining site polluted by metals. Our aim was to quantify the chronic toxicity of contaminated soil using the Folsomia candida reproduction test. Briefly, the polluted soil, which contains in particular large quantities of arsenic, is mixed in variou...

The pollution characteristics of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu and Ni in soil of lead−zinc mining area were studied. The results indicate that the contamination degree followed the sequence of Cd>Pb>Zn>Ni>Cu and concentrations of Pb, Cd and Zn exceeded corresponding limits of the Chinese National Soil Environmental Quality Standard III. The soil was extremely polluted by Cd (Iego=5.26), moderately to heavily ...

The stimulation of the microbial population by a more bioavailable supplementary carbon source and by a surfactant pretreatment was studied in petroleum hydrocarbon-polluted soils bioremediation. Two types of soils were used, Soil A which had been recently polluted and the aged Soil B. They contained 52.4 and 50.4 g of total petroleum hydrocarbons per kg of dry soil, respectively. The effect of...