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Elemental Composition of Barley and Ryegrass Grown on Acid Soils Amended with Scrubber Sludge¹

ABSTRACT

A greenhouse study assessed barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and ryegrass (Secale cereale L.) growth on two acid soils amended with scrubber sludge from a coal-fired, power-generating plant. The scrubber sludge was the residue from flue gas desulfurization, which included unburned airborne particulates (fly ash). The feasibility of using this material as a soil amendment was investigated since both the source, low-sulfur western coal, and the process by which this material was generated differ markedly from fly ashes used in many reported studies. Of particular interest were the effects of scrubber sludge applications on boron and selenium concentrations of barley and ryegrass.

Soils used were a coarse sand, Typic Hapludalf (pH = 4.8), and a silt loam, Udorthentic Haploboroll (pH = 5.7). Scrubber sludge application rates ranged from 0 to 100 g sludge/kg soil. Dry matter production for 6 weeks of growth was depressed for barley and ryegrass when applications exceeded 12.$ g sludge/kg soil. Soil pH increased from 4.8 to 7.2 in the coarse sand and from 5.7 to 7.6 in the silt loam by applications of 100 g sludge/kg soil.

Yield reductions for barley and ryegrass were attributed to high concentrations of tissue B, which ranged from 12 µg/g on control treatments to 150 and 2,000 µg/g on soils receiving 6.25 and 100 g sludge/kg soil, respectively. Tissue Se increased with added sludge, while Mn and Zn contents decreased, without reaching toxic or deficiency levels, respectively. Tissue Cd, Cu, P, and Pb levels fluctuated from soil to soil and crop to crop without approaching deficiency or toxicity levels.

Key Words: fly ash • trace metals • boron toxicity

¹ Contribution from the Minnesota Agric. Exp. Stn. and the Soil and Water Manage. Res. Unit, USDA-SEA, AR, St. Paul, MN 55108. Scientific Journal Series Paper no. 10,734. Financial support for W. J. Walker via a research assistantship grant from Northern States Power is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

² Research Assistant, Soil Science Dep., Univ. of Minnesota; and Soil Scientist, USDA-SEA, AR, and Professor of Soil Science, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul.

Received for publication May 14, 1979.