Agricultural soils spiked with copper mine wastes and copper concentrate: implications for copper bioavailability and bioaccumulation.

A better understanding of exposure to and effects of copper-rich pollutants in soils is required for accurate environmental risk assessment of copper. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study copper bioavailability and bioaccumulation in agricultural soils spiked with different types of copper-rich mine solid wastes (copper ore, tailing sand, smelter dust, and smelter slag) and copper concentrate. A copper salt (copper sulfate, CuSO4) that frequently is used to assess soil copper bioavailability and phytotoxicity also was included for comparison.