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VOL. 70 (4), 961-999, 2004 VANADIUM - AN ELEMENT BOTH ESSENTIAL AND TOXIC

Diluvial sands, gneiss, peat and alluvial riverside soils deliver
only 60% of the vanadium amount found in the vegetation of the
Rotliegende.

The vanadium content of wheat, rye and red clover as a field crop
originating from 25 plots of 1m² each correlated with r values between
0.75 and 0.90. This shows the suitability of the three species as indi-
cator plants of the bioavailability of vanadium in the soil (Table 3).

TABLE 3. Correlations of the vanadium concentration in three plant species
growing in the same place

Species (n)3 p2 r1

Rye: wheat (14) < 0.01 0.75
Rye: red clover (field) (7) < 0.05 0.76
Wheat: red clover (field) (4) > 0.05 0.90

1 r = correlation coefficient.
2 p = significance level of the t-test according to Student.
3 n = number.

Anthropogenic vanadium emissions are indicated even years af-
ter the closure of the vanadium source, as it was demonstrated in
the vicinity of cement and phosphate factories (table 3) (4).

TABLE 4. Vanadium contents of several plant species and plant parts from a
normal and a vanadium-polluted area (µg/kg dry matter)

Species resp. part Control V-polluted area p %1
of plants (n; n) area
279
Tomato (11;4) s2 x3 x s 264
Onion (11;13) 246
Asparagus (2;5) 6.0 8.6 24 29 > 0.05 233
Kohlrabi (12;3) 22 22 58 89 > 0.05 177
Sweet cherry (6;3) 12 52 128 60 > 0.05 140
Cucumber (15;8) 13 15 35 15 < 0.05
3.0 7.9 14 4.0 < 0.05
26 35 49 31 > 0.05

969