The present work is part of a study focused on the use of organo-zeolite conditioner to remediate soil polluted by toxic elements. The Neapolitan yellow tuff (NYT) was utilized as a component of an organo-mineral sorbent/exchanger soil conditioner with pellet manure (NYT/PM) to reduce the mobility of Cd and Pb and recover plant performance in heavily polluted soils from illegal dumps near Santa Maria La Fossa (Lower Volturno river basin, Campania Region, southern Italy). Pot experiments were performed by adding the NYT/PM mixture (1:1, w/w) to polluted soil at the rates of 0%, 25%, 50% or 75% (w/w). Wheat (Triticum aestivum) was used as the test plant. The addition of organo-zeolite NYT/PM mixture significantly reduced the DTPA (diethylene-triamine-pentaaceti c acid)-extractable Cd and Pb from 1.01 and 97.5 mg kg−1 in the polluted soil, to 0.14 and 11.6 mg kg−1, respectively, in the soil amended with 75% NYT/PM. The best plant response was observed in amended soil systems treated with 25% NYT/PM, whereas larger additions induced plant toxicities due to increased soil salinity.
