THE EFFECTS OF CEMENT DUST ON AMARANTHUS VIRIDIS.

ABSTRACT

The   experiment   was   carried   out   to   investigate   the   effect   of   cement   dust   pollution   onAmaranthus viridis in respect to growth, heavy metal uptake and the plant in general. Loamysoil was polluted with Dangote cement in a ratio of (100:1). It was observed that the presenceof cement dust in the polluted soil did not affect the germination time of the plant. Upongrowing the Amaranthus plant were polluted with 10.2gcement dust at 3datys interval for theexperiment duration. The results showed that the cement dust had no significant effect on thegermination of the seeds of A.viridis. There was a significant reduction in the weight of thestem and root of the polluted plant at the 4-5 week of the experiment and the leaves of thepolluted plants exhibited chlorotic and necrotic symptoms. These results indicated that forvegetables such as A.virids and other vegetables , a polluted environment would bring aboutdeteriorating effects on the plants.