The fly ash influenced the heavy metal status of the soil and the seeds of sunflower. A case study.

ABSTRACT

In this study, four cultivars of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) were grown in the sandy loam soil, supplemented with graded (v/v) quantity (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100%) of the fly ash, released by the combustion of the coal from the thermal power plant. The presence of fly ash in the soil increased its porosity, water holding capacity, pH, E.C., C.E.C., the content of sulphate, carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and various trace elements. However, in the seeds, except Fe, Pb, Mn and Zn, and other heavy metals remained untraced up to 40% of the fly ash, above that their quantity slightly increased but the values are very much under the permissible limits.