An individual trace metal present in a soil at its ecological screening value or investigation level (trigger/threshold) is expected to cause phytotoxicity. However, phytotoxicity may be induced by a mixture of multiple metals, each present at a concentration lower than the corresponding investigation level. To investigate the accumulative impact of metals present below their individual investigation levels, three successive phytotoxicity trials were conducted in a greenhouse using the triticale plant CrackerJack (Triticosecale rimpaui), a cereal crop, in a sandy acidic soil treated jointly with Cd, Cu, and Zn at various rates. Seed germination and seedling growth were monitored. The metal rates in the first two trials were either too toxic or nontoxic. In the third trial, it was found that the mixture of Cd, Cu, and Zn at rates of 2.5, 97.5, and 188 mg kg−1, respectively, did not affect seed germination, but caused a slight reduction in plant growth. Although metal concentrations used were lower than the Australian Ecological Investigation Level (Urban) for Cd, Cu, and Zn, which are 3.0, 100, and 200 mg kg−1, respectively, the reduction occurred due to synergy. It was concluded that, to enhance the usefulness of environmental investigation limits, the synergistic effects of multiple metals present at levels slightly below the established limits must be considered.
Autores e editores
Khan, NaserBolan, NanthiClark, IanMeier, SebastianLewis, DavidSánchez-Monedero, Miguel A.
Land (ISSN 2073-445X) is an international, scholarly, open access journal of land use and land management published quarterly online by MDPI.
MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.
Provedor de dados
MDPI AG, a publisher of open-access scientific journals, was spun off from the Molecular Diversity Preservation International organization. It was formally registered by Shu-Kun Lin and Dietrich Rordorf in May 2010 in Basel, Switzerland, and maintains editorial offices in China, Spain and Serbia. MDPI relies primarily on article processing charges to cover the costs of editorial quality control and production of articles. Over 280 universities and institutes have joined the MDPI Institutional Open Access Program; authors from these organizations pay reduced article processing charges.