CHROMIUM IN SOILS AND FERTILIZERS AND ITS ACCUMULATION BY PLANTS

Chromium is still a controversial element and is mainly identified as a strono, toxicant. It has was been shown several years ago and onwards, that chromium (CrIII) plays important nutritional functions for mammals and must be supplied to the organisms with the diet. This is all the more so because the recovery of Cr(III) from organic bonds is better as compared to mineral compounds. Therefore is not sufficient to control only its content in the soils but also to undertake some practices in order to cover plant needs for chromium. The current paper summarizes the most important aspects related to the significance of chromium for humans and animals, its occurrence and behaviour in the soils, uptake and accumulation by plants as well as its content in the fertilizers. The paper was elaborated on the basis of data collected from the literature and own scientific investigations.