studied had been selected by R. L. Chaney (Chaney et al.,. 1977) to study the ..... Hoffman, and Ann Wolf for reviewing the manuscript; James Koch and William ...
Heavy Metal Concentrations in Earthworms From Soil Amended with Sewage Sludge1 W. NELSON BEYER, RUFUS L. CHANEY, AND BERNARD M. MULHERN 2
ABSTRACT
Beyer, W. N., R. L. Chaney, and B. M. Mulhern. 1982. Heavy metal concentrations in earthworms from soil amended with sewage sludge. J. Environ. Qual. 11:381-385.
of metals or other contaminants. The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of formulating regulations to limit the amount of metals that may be added with sludge to agricultural lands, to protect plants, domestic animals, and people. Helmke et al. (1979) showed that worms in soil experimentally treated with sludge high in metals may contain high concentrations of some metals, especially Cd, and suggested the need to consider contamination of food chains by this route. Other studies have also shown that worms can concentrate Cd from soil experimentally amended with sludges (Andersen, 1979, 1980; Carter et al., 1980; Hartenstein et al., 1980). Van Hook (1974) suggested that worms are useful indicators of the availability of soilborne metals to animals. The present paper summarizes two studies. The first examines metal concentrations in earthworms (Lumbricidae) from soil to which sewage sludge, metals, or both were added annually to experimental plots. It provides information on how the addition of sludge to soil changes concentrations of metals in worms, as well as on how these metals interact with each other. The second study examines residues in worms from fields that had been amended with sludge by farmers several years before this study was started; the results provide information on the long-term effects of adding sludge to land after most of the sludge had decomposed. Although the relations between metal residues in worms
Applying sewage sludge to land adds nutrients to soil and may improve soil structure. The composition of sludges varies greatly, however, and those sludges that contain industrial wastes may have high concentrations
'Contribution of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD 20708. Received 3 Aug. 1981. 2 Research Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Research Agronomist, USDA-ARS, NER-BARC, AEQI, Biological Waste Management and Organic Resources Lab., Beltsville, MD 20705; and Research Chemist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; respectively.
Metal concentrations in soil may be elevated considerably when metal-laden sewage sludge is spread on land. Metals in earthworms (Lumbricidae) from agricultural fields amended with sewage sludge and from experimental plots were examined to determine if earthworms are important in transferring metals in soil to wildlife. Earthworms from four sites amended with sludge contained significantly (P
