Stress mitigation by riparian flora in industrial contaminated area of River Chenab Punjab, Pakistan

PeerJ

article

Toqeer Abbas¹  Iftikhar Ahmad¹  Zafar Iqbal Khan¹  Anis Ali Shah²  Ryan Casini³  Hosam O. Elansary⁴ 

[1] Department of Botany, University of Sargodha;Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education;School of Public Health, University of California;Department of Plant Production, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University

关键词: Riparian flora;    Industrial pollution;    River Chenab;    Effluents;    Heavy metals;    Water;    Soil;    Phytoremediation;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15565

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Faisalabad is a major industrial area in Pakistan’s Punjab province that discharges wastewater into the Chenab River. Industrial effluents in Faisalabad are predicted to pose a significant threat to the riparian vegetation of the Chenab River and nearby vegetation. Heavy metal pollution of plants, water, and soils is one of the biggest problems worldwide that needs to be addressed because heavy metals above normal levels are extremely dangerous to both riparian vegetation and wildlife. The results indicated high levels of pollution in the industrial effluents as well as in the river in terms of salinity, metal toxicity, TSS, TDS, SAR, the acidic and alkaline nature of the industrial effluents, and the spread of industrial effluents up to 15 square kilometres in the Chenab River. Despite the higher pollution, four plants were found at all sites: Calotropis procera, Phyla nodiflora, Eclipta alba and Ranunculus sceleratus. It was found that most of the selected plants were phytoaccumulators, making them best suited to survive in harsh environments such as those with industrial pollution. The Fe concentration in the plant constituents was the highest, along with Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cu, all of which were above the permissible limits of the WHO. The metal transfer factor (MTF) was higher in most of the plants studied, and even exceeded 10 at some severely affected sites. Calotropis procera proved to be the most suitable plant for growth on drainage systems and also at river sites, as it had the highest importance value across all sites and seasons.

【 授权许可】

CC BY