Inhibitory effect of Cr(VI) on activities of soil enzymes

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of various Cr(VI) concentrations (0.05, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 g/kg) on the activity of soil enzymes, the activities of catalase, polyphenol oxidase, dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase in soils were investigated in the incubation experiment with a period of 35 d. The results indicate that all the tested Cr(VI) concentrations significantly inhibit dehydrogenase activity by over 70% after 35 d. The activity of alkaline phosphatase is slightly inhibited during the whole experiment except for on the day 7. Cr(VI) has no obvious effect on the activity of catalase in soil. On the contrary, Cr(VI) stimulates the activity of polyphenol oxidase. The results suggest that dehydrogenase activity can be used as an indicator for assessing the severity of chromium pollution.

Keywords

Cr(VI) / soil / pollution / enzyme activity / inhibition

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