Responses of legume and non-legume crop species to heavy metals in soils with multiple metal contamination.

Field and glasshouse investigations were conducted on the responses of two legumes (field pea and fodder vetch) and three non-leguminous crops (maize, wheat and rapeseed) to the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Zn, Pb, Cu and Mn in soil with multiple metal contamination. In general, the results indicate that the two legumes and wheat were more susceptible to soil metals than were rapeseed and maize. The dry matter yields of field pea, wheat, fodder vetch, rapeseed and maize decreased by up to 169, 123, 113, 93 and 68%, respectively, in metal-contaminated soil. Among the crops, maize had the highest concentrations of Mn, Zn and Cd, rapeseed had the highest concentrations of Cr, the concentration of Cu was highest in fodder vetch, and wheat was the highest accumulator of Pb. The bioconcentration factors (BCF) of the metals decreased as the soil metal loading rates increased except for Cr in fodder vetch and Cd in wheat, whose BCF increased as the metal loading rate increased. Significant linear correlations were found between plant and soil metal concentrations. Patterns of metal distribution in plant parts varied with different crops and metals, with more Cd and Cu accumulating in the grain of wheat than of maize, suggesting that growing wheat would represent a higher risk of food contamination than growing maize in Cd- or Cu-contaminated soil. The results suggest that on sites with multiple metal contamination, growing maize and rapeseed would be safer than growing wheat or legumes. However, maize could perhaps be used for phytoremediation of lightly contaminated soils, providing that the crop residues were safely disposed of.