Effect of cadmium alone and in combination with butachlor on soil enzymes

The ecological toxicity of cadmium (Cd, 10 mg kg⁻¹ of dry weight soil) and butachlor (10, 50 and100 mg kg⁻¹ of dry weight soil) in both their single and combined effects on soil urease and phosphatase was studied after 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days exposure under controlled conditions in paddy and phaeozem soils. The results showed that Cd reduced the activities of urease and phosphatase at early incubation time (1–7 days), while the reduction almost disappeared at the end of the incubation. The effect of Cd on phosphatase was more pronounced than that on urease. The activities of urease and phosphatase were reduced by butachlor, while urease activity was significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) improved when the concentrations of butachlor were 10 and 50 mg kg⁻¹ at the end of the incubation. When Cd (10 mg kg⁻¹) was combined with butachlor (50 and 100 mg kg⁻¹), the activities of urease and phosphatase became lower than without combination at early incubation time, which indicated that the toxicity of Cd significantly increased (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). However, when Cd (10 mg kg⁻¹) was combined with butachlor (10 mg kg⁻¹), the activities of urease and phosphatase became higher than those without combination at the end of the incubation, which indicated that the toxicity of Cd decreased. It was indicated that the combined effects depended largely on the incubation time and the concentration ratio of Cd and butachlor. In addition, it was showed that the combined effects of butachlor and Cd appeared different in paddy from phaeozem, which may be related to the different properties of these soils.