Hm. Helal et al., SALINITY HEAVY-METAL INTERACTIONS AS EVALUATED BY SOIL EXTRACTION ANDPLANT ANALYSIS, Communications in soil science and plant analysis, 27(5-8), 1996, pp. 1355-1361
Both heavy metal pollution and saline water irrigation are increasing
in the dry areas, especially in developing countries. The effects of s
oil and water salinity on the transfer of heavy metals to crops are, h
owever, not well understood. The uptake of Zn, Cu and Cd from. pollute
d desert soil from the north west of Egypt was therefore evaluated in
pot experiments with maize, irrigated either with NaCl or with NaCl CaCl2 solutions. NaCl accelerated root mortality and increased both th
e concentration of heavy metals in soil saturation extract and their u
ptake by maize. In contrast to NaCl, CaCl2 affected solubility and pla
nt uptake of heavy metals differently. While the solubility of heavy m
etals was enhanced by CaCl2, both root mortality and the uptake of hea
vy metals were depressed. It was concluded that salinity of irrigation
water affects heavy metal uptake at least partly by modifying root fu
nctions.