Phytoremediation potential of twelve wild plant species for toxic elements in a contaminated soil

Environment International

Hans-Joachim Stärk¹  Rainer Wennrich²  Vasileios Antoniadis³  Jörg Rinklebe³  Ines Merbach⁴  Efi Levizou⁴  Sabry M. Shaheen⁵ 

[1] King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture, Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;University of Kafrelsheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, 33 516 Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt;Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Greece;Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany;University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste Management, Laboratory of Soil- and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285 Wuppertal, Germany;

关键词: Clean remediation;    Riparian soils;    Toxic metal(loid)s;    Hyperaccumulators;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Green remediation of soils highly contaminated with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) can be achieved using suitable plants. Such phytoremediation procedure often takes into consideration PTE concentrations in plants only, but not produced biomass. Phytoremediation potential of certain species of wild plants for PTEs in contaminated floodplain soils has not been assessed yet. Therefore, in this work 12 native species were tested, 3 of which (Poa angustifolia, Galium mollugo, and Stellaria holostea) to our knowledge have never been used before, in a two-year pot experiment and assessed their potential as phytoremediation species. The results showed that plant PTE concentrations were dramatically elevated for Cd and Zn in Alopecurus pratensis, Arrhenatherum elatius, Bromus inermis, Artemisia vulgaris, Achillea millefolium, Galium mollugo, Stellaria holostea, and Silene vulgaris. A. vulgaris was by far the most highly PTE absorbing plant among the 12 tested in this work, especially concerning Zn, Cd, and to a lesser degree Cu and Ni. Also, among species non-studied-before, G. mollugo and S. holostea were characterized by high Zn and Cd uptake, while P. angustifolia did not. Assessing the number of harvests necessary to decrease soil PTE to half of the initial concentrations, it was found that for Cd plants would achieve site phytoremediation within 8 (A. vulgaris) to 28 (S. holostea) and 51 (G. mollugo) harvests, while for Zn, harvests ranged from 104 (A. vulgaris) to 209 (S. holostea), and 251 (A. millefolium). A clear grouping of the tested species according to their functional type was evident. Herbaceous species were collectively more efficient than grasses in PTE uptake combined by high biomass accumulation; thus, they may act as key-species in a phytoremediation-related concept. Our approach puts phytoremediation into a practical perspective as to whether the process can be achieved within a measureable amount of time. In conclusion, A. vulgaris behaved as a hyperaccumulator plant species in our heavily contaminated soil, while never-studied-before G. mollugo and S. holostea also had a hyperaccumulator behavior, especially for Cd and Zn. Although more research is necessary for conclusive results, our study is pivotal in that it would help in assessing plant species as potential phytoremediation species in heavily contaminated soils.

【 授权许可】

Unknown