THE PRESENCE OF HEAVY METALS IN THE WHEAT STEM AND INFLUENCE ON THE GROWTH AND HEIGHT OF THE STEM

One of the ways in which heavy metals get into food products is through polluted plants and animals used for their production. Thus, if plants are grown on soil with a high content of heavy metals then a part of these metals will reach in their organism. Current agricultural practices include the widespread use of chemical pesticides and mineral fertilizers known for their ability to cause negative impacts on human health and degrade the natural environment. Plants play an important role in the circulation of heavy metals in nature. Heavy metals for the most part they enter the food chain through plants. The experiment was set up in vessels where two different concentrations of heavy metal mixture 100 ppm and 250 ppm were added under controlled conditions. Higher concentrations of heavy metal mixture had negative effect on wheat stem hight and plant growth was reduced. Higher concentrations of heavy metals significantly reduced plant growth in both cultivars. The aim of the research was to determine the content and influence of heavy metals on tree development in the varieties Pobeda and Ljiljana. The vegetation trial was set up in three repetitions, with a total of 36 pots in which two varieties of wheat, Pobeda and Ljiljana, were sown. Before sowing, the vessels were filled with 2 kg of Novobalt dry extract, which was subsequently contaminated with a mixture of chemical compounds of heavy metals in the form of a solution of the following compounds, namely: zinc in the form of zinc-acetate-Zn(CH3COO)2 x 2H2O, lead in the form of lead-acetate C4H6O4Pb x 3H2O, chromium in the form of chromium-trioxide-CrO3, copper in the form of copper-sulfate-CuSO4 and cadmium in the form of cadmium-nitrate- Cd(NO3)2 x 4H2O.