Soil pollution with trace elements has been of great concern in the last years due to the increase in contaminated areas, which calls for a better understanding of trace element availability and environmental remediation. This study evaluated the performance of an aluminum industry by-product as soil amendment in Cd- and Pb-contaminated soils. Samples of a sandy (50 g kg-1 clay) and a clayey (540 g kg-1 clay) soil were mixed with polluted soil (15 %) with high Cd and Pb concentrations and then treated with increasing doses: 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00 % (dry weight basis) - of an Al industry by-product. Additional treatments for comparison purposes consisted of: lime, a silicate by-product and turf, at rates of 0.25, 0.50, and 2.00 % respectively, as well as the non-contaminated soils. Plant and soil parameters were evaluated as follows: i) root and shoot dry matter production of Brachiaria decumbens and the respective Cd and Pb concentrations; and, ii) soil Cd and Pb concentrations, as well as the pH and the electrolytic conductivity (EC) of soil leachates. Cadmium and lead concentrations were measured in both unfiltered and 0.45 µm- filtered leachates, and Cd and Pb amounts in the plant roots and shoots were measured after nitric-perchloric digestion. Metal analysis were performed by either flame or graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Increasing the application rates of the Al industry by-product caused an increase in pH of the leachates and yielded higher EC values in the sandy than in the clayey soil. Unlike Cd, the Pb concentration differed between filtered and non-filtered soil leachates. The Al industry by-product favored the root and shoot dry matter production of B. decumbens and reduced Cd concentrations in the latter (mg kg-1) while the Pb concentration was not significantly altered.
trace elements; remediation; leachate; dry matter
