engleski

Heavy Metals Uptake by Aerial Biomass and Grain of Soybean

All phases of crude oil exploitation, starting from drilling works to the construction of underground pipeline networks, including transport, processing and storage, are causing interventions and procedures hazardous to the environment. Although modern technical solutions and materials are used in all segments of petroleum industry warrant a high degree of safety, the occurrence of various incidents is unfortunately not fully excluded. Incidents leading to pipeline spillage and crude oil contamination of the environment constitute a hazard to natural resources, primarily soil and water, and depending on their severity can jeopardize, for a shorter or longer time, the intended use of land on which the incident occurred, namely make it unsuitable for plant production. Petroleum and gas fields are located in Pannonian area where cultivation of agricultural crops is dominated and among them the most represented are corn, wheat and soybean. On the other side, these (petroleum and gas) activities generate waste - drilling fluids which contain different chemical compounds, some of which are ecologically hazardous (hydrocarbons), or toxic substances (heavy metals). As already mentioned, drilling fluids contain increased levels of some heavy metals (barium, zinc and mercury), so their possible application as liming material involves the risk of heavy metal accumulation in soil and plants (Agbogidi et al., 2007). To assess the extent to which such material may be useful or harmful to soil, and thereby to plants grown on it, since pollutants enter the animal and human food chain via soil and plants, investigations into this problem were undertaken (Nelson et al., 1984 ; Lengrand et al., 2005 ; Kabata-Pendias & Mukherjee, 2007). In soybean and wheat grain more nickel and copper were determined compared to soybean and wheat biomass. Also, higher content of zinc in wheat grain compared to biomass was determined. In all other cases, higher concentrations of heavy metals in aerial biomass than in grain of investigated crops were determined. Regarding other investigated crops soybean had the highest enrichment coefficient for cadmium, copper, nickel and zinc.

soil, crops, heavy metals, enrichment coefficients

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