Sewage sludges are nutrient-rich organic materials, thus presenting potential for agricultural use. The use of these materials, however, can be limited by the presence of heavy metals in their composition. This study tried to evaluate: (a) the solubility of Cd, Pb and Zn in soils treated with sewage sludge enriched with these metals; (b) the incubation time effect on distribution changes of Cd, Pb and Zn in their different chemical forms in two soils treated with sewage sludge enriched with these metals; (c) the influence of organic and inorganic sewage sludge fractions on the dynamics of these metals in the soil. A sewage sludge of urban sewer produced in the Station of Treatment of Ilha do Governador the (ETIG), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) was enriched by adding Cd, Pb, and Zn. After 20 incubation days, under constant humidity (50% g g-1), the enriched sewage sludge was used for experiments with two soil samples: Yellow Red Latossol (LV) and Yellow Red Podzolic (PV). In the laboratory, the soil samples were incubated with 0; 20; 40 and 80 t ha-1 of enriched sewage sludge. They were withdrawn after incubation periods of 4, 12, 16 and 160 weeks and analyzed by sequential extraction for their Cd, Pb and Zn contents. Soluble organic compounds were observed to form complexes with cadmium and zinc, maintaining elevated levels of these elements associated to the soluble fraction in water throughout the experiment. Most of the Pb, Cd, and Zn became linked to the hydroxylamine extractable fraction, due to the incorporation of inorganic Fe and Mn from the sewage sludge. Increasing incubation time caused a reduction of this fraction and an increase of the residual fraction, indicating a reduction in the solubility of these elements with time, thus diminishing contamination risks.
Pb; Cd; Zn; sequential extraction; dynamic of heavy metals
