Bentonite application in the remediation of cadmiun in contamination soil

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of bentonite application on the melioration of cadmium contaminated soils, by evaluating the production of beets, radish and grass, as test plants. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse in a completely randomized design, with four replicates. Red Eutrophic Latossol was contaminated with 3 mg kg-1 of Cd and mixed to treatments which consisted of four doses of bentonite 0; 30, 60 and 90 t ha-1. After that was planted beet, radish and grass. The cadmium content in the plants, as well as the translocation index in the plants was evaluated. The present study led to demonstrate that addition of bentonite in soil contaminated with Cd had a significant positive effect on development of beet and radish. The increasing doses of bentonite applied to soil contaminated with Cd decreased the concentration of this metal in the edible parts of the sugar beet plants and grass. The amount of bentonite applied to contaminated soils, in general, was not enough on its improvement despite having decreased the concentration of cadmium in plants. The translocation index of cadmiun in the grass was reduced with the bentonite application, allowing to find a great quantity of cadmium in the grass roots.