Effect of Bottom Sediment on Content, Bioaccumulation and Translocation of Heavy Metals in Maize Biomass

The research aimed to assess the effect of bottom sediment on the content, bioaccumulation and translocation of heavy metals in maize biomass. The investigations were conducted in 2006-2007 as a pot experiment on light soil of the granulometric composition of weakly-loamy sand. The experimental design comprised 3 treatments: without sediment (I), a 5% sediment admixture (II) and a 10% sediment admixture to the soil (III). Bottom sediment was added to the soil in the first year of the investigations. The content of Zn, Cu, Ni. Pb, Cd and Cr was determined using the ICP-EAS method in the plant material after its dry mineralization and ash solution in HNO3. The uptake of the above-mentioned metals by maize was computed alongside their bioaccumulation and translocation coefficients. The effect of bottom sediment admixture on heavy metal concentrations in maize was determined to be varied, e.g. a 5% dose of sediment added to soil decreased the content of all the analyzed heavy metals in the biomass of maize aerial parts, whereas a 10% admixture increased the content of Cu, Ni, Pb and Cr. The values of bioaccumulation coefficients revealed that an admixture of both doses of bottom sediment led to a decreased accumulation of Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr and Ni (5% dose) in maize aerial biomass. Moreover, the plant more easily accumulated Zn, Cd and Cu than Cr, Ni or Pb. Permissible amounts of heavy metals in plants to be used as animal fodder were not exceeded in the maize biomass.