the contents of as, cd, cu and mo were determined in soil surrounding meyduk tailings dam based on 21 surface soil samples. assessment of toxic element pollution in studied soil samples needs knowledge of pre-anthropogenic metal concentration to act as a reference against which measured values could be compared. estimating the background values was executed by sampling rocks adjacent to soil sa...

the aim of this study was to assess the effects of heavy metal tolerant soil microbes inoculation on growth and metal uptake of pearl millet (pennisetum glaucum), couch grass (triticum repens) and alfalfa (medicago sativa) in a soil spiked (and subsequently aged) with increasing concentrations of pb. a soil sample (soil 1) was spiked with increasing (0 to 1500 mg/kg) concentrations of pb and in...

OBJECTIVES Measurement of soil contamination levels has been considered a feasible method for dose estimation of internal radiation exposure following the Chernobyl disaster by means of aggregate transfer factors; however, it is still unclear whether the estimation of internal contamination based on soil contamination levels is universally valid or incident specific. METHODS To address this i...

Soil contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in agricultural lands, in part, is responsible for limiting the crop productivity and the food chain contamination. The objective of this study were to asses the limiting of crop productivity by cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), the potential transfer and bioaccumulation of these PTEs in plants, and ultimately the food chain contamination to e...

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are an important source of organic carbon, and affect a range of ecosystem functions in arid and semiarid environments. Yet the impact of grazing disturbance on crust properties and soil CO(2) efflux remain poorly studied, particularly in African ecosystems. The effects of burial under wind-blown sand, disaggregation and removal of BSCs on seasonal variations in so...

Adipocere refers to a postmortem product which forms from body fat in the later stages of decomposition. Factors present in the surrounding decomposition environment will influence adipocere formation and may accelerate or retard the process of conversion. One such factor important in burial environments is the type of grave soil in which the burial has taken place. This study was conducted to ...