The adverse effects of the heavy metals on all living forms make rehabilitation of heavy metal-contaminated soils very difficult. In this paper, the effects of seedling inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on post-transplant growth and metal uptake of five woody species: (Senna multijuga (L.C. Rich.) Irwin et Barneby (cássia verrugosa), Luehea grandiflora Mart. et Zucc. (açoita-cavalo), Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Vell.) Morong (tamboril), Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. (albizia) and Senna macranthera (Collard.) Irwin et Barneby (fedegoso)) in soil mixes containing increasing […]

A greenhouse experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of urban waste compost on soil fertility and on total and extracted contents (DTPA 0.005 mol L-1 pH 7.3) of the elements Fe, Mn, Zn and Ni in a sandy Red-Yellow Podzolic soil (Ultisol). The yield of dry matter of Sorghum bicolor plants and the content of P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn and Ni were evaluated in plant tops as a function of compost rates of 0, 12.5, […]

One of the alternatives to diminish the urban waste volume to be discarded is the composting process, whose final product – the compost – can be used in agriculture. However, these composts may present toxic substances for humans, i.e. heavy metals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of waste composts from six Brazilian capitals. Samples of cattle manure, lime, ordinary phosphate, potassium chloride, and urea were analysed to compare with the waste compost. Determinations of […]

Samples of A and B horizons of a humic red-yellow latosol with a clayey texture were incubated in salt solutions of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn under greenhouse conditions at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil, from March to September 1994. The main objectives were to adapt a method for fractional extraction of metals and to evaluate their behavior in soluble, exchangeable, bound to organic matter, bound to Al oxides, bound to Fe oxides, and residual forms. The […]

The effect of sewage sludge pelletization added at rates of 0, 1 and 5% (v/v) of dry material was studied on corn growth and absorption of Zn, Cu and Ni, with or without the addition of CaCO3 to increase soil pH to 6.0. Three Hapludox soil samples from the State of São Paulo, Brazil, “latossolo roxo”, “latossolo vermelho-escuro” e “latossolo vermelho-amarelo” (LR , LE and LV, respectively) were used in a greenhouse experiment conducted in Campinas, State of São Paulo, […]