Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences

The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn were assessed in ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and adjacent soil, collected in urban area of Baia Mare, Northwestern Romania. Aqua regia and DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) metal extractable fractions were investigated in order to evaluate the mobility of metals in soil. Linear (based on transfer factors) and nonlinear (based on Freundlich's equation) regression models were used to describe the transfer of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd from soil to ryegrass. The obtained results showed that the soil of Baia Mare is highly polluted with heavy metals, the majority of the total concentrations of all the investigated metals exceeded the alert levels for sensitive soils, according to Romanian legislation. The mean values for transfer factors were: 0.049, 0.027, 0.453 and 0.034 for Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn, respectively.The results showed that Freundlich-type function was more suitable than linear regression to predict Pb, Cu and Zn concentrations in ryegrass from the DTPA-extractable metal concentrations.