Heavy metal pollution and accumulation in maize grown in arable soils located near a lead and zinc slag heap in Yunnan, Southwest China Online publication date: Thu, 20-Oct-2016
by Guan-Hua Cao; Tao Li; Xing-Bing Li; Fang-Dong Zhan; Mi Shen; Zhi-Wei Zhao
International Journal of Environment and Pollution (IJEP), Vol. 59, No. 2/3/4, 2016
Abstract: An investigation on heavy metals (HMs), Pb, Zn and Cd pollution and accumulation in maize grown in arable soils along a lead and zinc slag heap in Yunnan, Southwest China was conducted using multivariate statistical methods. Calculation of the Nemerow pollution index revealed that all sampled soils were heavily polluted. The concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cd in the maize samples presented a decreasing trend from roots to shoots to seeds, except for Zn (roots > seeds > shoots), and the content of HMs in the maize roots was positively correlated with both soil total and extractable HMs. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) intensively colonised in the maize roots, and their functional roles are discussed in the soils contaminated by HMs. The study results showed that intensive mining and smelting activities contributing to soil metal contamination present a high metal-pollution risk for crops grown.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Environment and Pollution (IJEP):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook