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Effects of Sulfur Dioxide Fumigation in Open-Top Field Chambers on Soil Acidification and Exchangeable Aluminum¹

ABSTRACT

The effects of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) fumigation in open-top field chambers on soil pH and exchangeable Al were evaluated. Soil samples were taken from the surface 0–8 cm in plots where tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L. ‘Jet Star’) plants were grown. Treatments were: 0, 0.06, 0.12, 0.24, and 0.48 ppm SO₂ in non-filtered (NF) air, and 0, 0.12, and 0.48 ppm SO₂ in C-filtered (CF) air. The variation in soil pH after 13 weeks of exposure (5 hours/day, 5 days/week) to 0.12 ppm or less SO₂ was not statistically significant. However, the highest SO₂ dose (0.48 ppm SO₂ for 275 hours total exposure) significantly decreased soil pH from 5.84 to 5.05 and from 5.75 to 4.89 in NF and CF chambers, respectively. A high linear correlation was found between SO₂ exposure concentration and soil SO₄-S levels at the end of the fumigation period (r = 0.95). Exchangeable Al was markedly increased at pH values below 5.5. The highest SO₂ exposure dose caused exchangeable Al in the surface soil to be increased more than tenfold from 0.64 to 6.53% of the total cation exchange capacity. Long-term SO₂ exposure appears to possess the potential to induce Al phytotoxicity only when the soil pH is reduced to below pH 5.0.

Key Words: acid rain • air pollution • surface soil • A1-toxicity

¹ Research sponsored by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Dep. of Energy; Interagency Agreement no. A1-0179 EV/0089 to U.S. Dep. of Agriculture.

² Plant Physiologist, Plant Pathologist, and Plant Physiologist, respectively. Plant Stress Laboratory, Plant Physiology Institute, USDA/SEA, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Received for publication April 15, 1981.