Tuesday, 8 November 2005
10

Revegetation of Lead Contaminted Urban Soils Using Vermicompost.

I. P. Bell, Frieda Eivazi, and John Yang. Lincoln University of Missouri, 235 Founders Hall, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Many residential soils in the Southwestern Missouri are contaminated with high concentration (~ 4000 mg/kg) of lead. High soil lead contamination is primarily due to the past lead mining activities. Lead exposure disrupts the development of the nervous system, causing delay in growth and learning disabilities. This research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of vermicompost in establishment of vegetation cover and reduction of lead toxicity in soils. In a greenhouse experiment, lead tailings were treated with different rates of vermicompost and inorganic fertilizers in combination. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) were grown in pots for 8 weeks. The germination rate, plant height, plant fresh and dry weight were measured. The results indicated that moderate rate of compost along with inorganic fertilizer produced the highest plant fresh weight. Data on chemical characteristics of plant samples and soil-vermicmpost mix used in this experiment will be reported.


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