Barium absorption by rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) and mobility in soil treated with barite under different redox potential conditions

Two parallel tests were carried out to evaluate barium solubility in soils treated with barite under reducing conditions: one in leaching columns and another with potted plants cultivated with rice. Soils were treated with three doses of barite and kept at two humidity levels. The reduction (-200 mV) condition promoted an increase in barium in the geochemical fraction of higher liability, higher concentrations of barium in the leached extracts, and higher absorption by rice plants. As a result of increased uptake and accumulation of barium, the plants showed stunted growth