The work in this thesis demonstrates whether resins are better than conventional soil extractants at predicting plant metal concentrations, and whether low-cost soil treatments can effectively reduce metal content and concentrations in lettuce leaves. / Researchers have shown that ion exchange resins can simulate root metal uptake behaviour by acting as ion sinks. Chemical extractants on the other hand, generally do not behave in this manner. Thus, we would expect resins (in either bead or membrane form) to predict plant metal concentrations better than conventional extractants. For the first study, a procedure using anion exchange resin membranes (AEM) treated with either EDTA or DTPA chelators was chosen, since previous studies showed this method to be effective at predicting plant metal uptake, and practical for routine laboratory use. In addition, several conventional extractants were selected for comparison. / For the second part of the thesis, a study was undertaken to test the effectiveness of various food processing byproducts to stabilize metal contaminants in soils, and compare the results with those of a Na-based aluminosilicate (zeolite). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.20877 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Tambasco, Giuseppe. |
| Contributors | Hendershot, William H. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001610275, proquestno: MQ44294, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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