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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Short-term usage of sewage sludge as organic fertilizer to sugarcane in a tropical soil bears little threat of heavy metal contamination

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Author(s):
Rodrigues Nogueira, Thiago Assis [1] ; Franco, Ademir [1] ; He, Zhenli [2] ; Braga, Vivian Santoro [1] ; Firme, Lucia Pittol [1] ; Abreu-Junior, Cassio Hamilton [1]
Total Authors: 6
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Nucl Energy Agr, Lab Plant Nutr NAPTISA, BR-13400970 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Florida, Inst Food & Agr Sci, Indian River Res & Educ Ctr, Ft Pierce, FL 34945 - USA
Total Affiliations: 2
Document type: Journal article
Source: Journal of Environmental Management; v. 114, p. 168-177, JAN 15 2013.
Web of Science Citations: 25
Abstract

A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of application rates of sewage sludge and mineral nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers on As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn concentration in soil, cane plant, and first ratoon (residual effect) in a Typic Hapludult soil. To allow an analysis by means of response surface modeling, four rates of sewage sludge (0, 3.6, 7.2 and 10.8 t ha(-1), dry base), of N (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha(-1)) and of P2O5 (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha(-1)) were applied in randomized block design, in a 4 x 4 x 4 factorial scheme, with confounded degrees of freedom for triple interaction, with two replications. To evaluate the residual effect of the sludge applied to cane plant on the cane ratoon growth, mineral NK fertilizers were applied at the rates of 120 kg ha(-1) N and 140 kg ha(-1) of K2O, on all treatments. The application rates of mineral nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers did not affect statistically the heavy metal concentration in the soil and in the sugarcane plants. Sewage sludge application increased As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations in soil, but values did not exceed the quality standard established by legislation for agricultural soils. Although the concentrations of metals in the plants were very low, the uptake of heavy metal by sugarcane plants was generally increased by sewage sludge doses. The use of sewage sludge based on N criteria introduces a small amount of heavy metal into the agricultural system, however it poses no hazard to the environment. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)