Main objective:

•  Establish the relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants.

 
Specific objectives:

• Study design;
• Determination of metal partitioning patterns in soils with different pollution sources and levels;
• Identification of relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants;
• Disseminating the results.

       The project aims to evaluate several single and sequential extraction methods to determine the plant available metal fractions. The metal fraction extracted in the chosen reagents will be determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS, while those from the residues, by X-Ray Fluorescence. The obtained soil-plant partitioning pattern of metals along with the metal contents of studied plant species will permit to elucidate aspects of the biogeochemical cycles of metals, to predict the risks of metal contamination in case of environmental conditions changes, to improve the knowledge about the environmental and health implications of soil pollution with metals. The experimental data will be also the basis for the development of a model to describe the relationships between the soil-metal partitioning patterns in soils with different pollution levels and pollution sources and, metal availability for plants.

• Report concerning the soil pollution sources and levels in the study areas;
• Report on the testing, optimization and validation of the extraction methods;
• Report on soil physical-chemical characteristics;
• Report on the metal-soil distribution patterns;
• Report on metal contents in plants;
• Report on soil to plant transfer factors;
• Model for relationship between soil-metal partitioning patterns and metal availability to plants;
• Articles published in scientific journals;
• Presentations at national and international conferences;
• Web page.
  

Stage 1 - 2011

• Report concerning the pollution sources and levels in the study areas;
• Report on the testing, optimization and validation of the extraction methods;
• Web page.