Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer ISSN:0367-6315(Print) 2288-2162(Online) 한국토양비료학회 학회지

Thallium (Tl) is a widely dispersed toxic element and remains in the environment. It is distributed in some soils near cement plants, abandoned mines and smelter areas in Korea ranging from 0.18 to 12.91 mg Tl kg^-1. In this study, we investigated the Tl uptake by the selected food crops, Cucumis sativus and Phaseolus vulgaris, from artificially Tl-contaminated acidic and neutral soils with or without the application of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA). The Tl concentrations in the plant tissues increased with increasing the soil Tl concentrations. The shoot Tl concentrations of plants ranged from <0.1 mg kg^-1 to 102.7 mg kg^-1. The root Tl concentrations were between 8.5 mg kg^-1 and 685.8 mg kg^-1. The Tl uptake by cucumber plant was always higher than by bean plant, and Tl in the plant tissues were much higher in the acidic soil than in the neutral soil. However, the correlations among the shoot and root Tl concentrations, Tl-bioaccumulation factor (BAF) values, and Tl-translocation index (TLI) values for bean plant were higher than for cucumber plant. When DTPA was applied to the soils, the Tl in the plant tissues generally increased. In addition, the DTPA application in neutral soil affected positively the Tl translocation in both the plants, but in the acidic soil, it influenced only in bean plant.

Bioaccumulation factor and translocation index of thallium in cucumber and bean grown in the artificially Tl contaminated acidic soil.