The work presented here encompasses three experiments involving soils contaminated with As, Cd, Cr and Pb. One experiment involved bioassays to determine the toxicity and bioavailability of metals after chemical amendment were added to the soil for immobilizing As, Cd, Cr and Pb. The second experiment considered metal-spiked soil heterogeneously placed in a column of soil and the subsequent effects on maize and wheat root growth. The final study involved maize root growth in two contaminated soils collected from the field with and without addition of ameliorative chemical amendments to stabilize the metals.