Phytoextraction - thte use of plants to remove heavy metals from soils
- Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States)
A small number of wild plants which grow on metal contaminated soil accumulate large amounts of heavy metals in their roots and shoots. This property may be exploited for soil reclamation if an easily cultivated, high biomass crop plant able to accumulate heavy metals is identified. Therefore, the ability of various crop plants to accumulate Pb in shoots and roots was compared. While all crop Brassicas tested accumulated Pb, some cultivars of Brassica juncea (L). Czern. showed a strong ability to accumulate Pb in roots and to transport Pb to the shoots (108.3 mg Pb/g DW in the roots and 34.5 mg Pb/g DW in the shoots). B. juncea was also able to concentrate Cr{sup -6}, Cd, Ni, Zn, and Cu in the shoots 58, 52, 31, 17, and 7 fold, respectively, from a substrate containing sulfates and phosphates as fertilizers. The high metal accumulation by some cultivars of B. juncea suggests that these plants may be used to clean up toxic metal-contaminated sites in a process termed phytoextraction.
- OSTI ID:
- 210537
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9509139--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Phytoremediation of uranium-contaminated soils: Role of organic acids in triggering uranium hyperaccumulation in plants
Identification and validation of heavy metal and radionuclide hyperaccumulating terrestrial plant species. Quarterly progress report, July 1, 1996--September 30, 1996