Original scientific paper

ACCUMULATION OF HEAVY METALS IN DIFFERENT WILD PLANT SPECIES

Zvjezdana Stančić orcid.org/0000-0002-6124-811X ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Dinko Vujević ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Dragana Dogančić ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Saša Zavrtnik ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Ines Dobrotić ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Zoran Bajsić ; Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin, Croatia
Ivana Dukši ; Varazdin County, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, Varaždin, Croatia
Dragutin Vincek ; Varazdin County, Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, Varaždin, Croatia

Abstract

During June and July of 2013, samples of soil and plants were collected at four sites in the Varaždin region in order to determine concentrations of the following heavy metals in them: cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). Determination of heavy-metal content was performed using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The scope of this study was to determine the accumulation of heavy metals in the following 11 wild plant species: common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), annual fleabane (Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), broadleaf plantain (Plantago major L.), compact dock (Rumex thyrsiflorus Fingerh.), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.). The results have shown that the highest concentration of cadmium is established in dandelion (0.41 mg/kg), of copper in chicory (31.3 mg/kg), of iron in common ragweed (154 mg/kg), of manganese in chicory (62 mg/kg), of nickel in common ragweed (2.7 mg/kg), of lead in annual fleabane (0.97 mg/kg), and of zinc in common ragweed (145.8 mg/kg). The values obtained could have practical purpose in the process of removal of heavy metals from contaminated soil by phytoremediation. The highest values of phytoaccumulation factors were obtained for zinc by common ragweed (2.61), for cadmium by dandelion (1.04), for copper by common ragweed (0.98), for manganese by chicory (0.16), for nickel by common ragweed (0.14), for lead by ribwort plantain (0.0069), and for iron by common ragweed (0.0061). The values of phytoaccumulation factors represent the relationship between the amounts of heavy metals in soil and plant samples, i.e. they show the efficiency of particular plant species in the uptake of a given heavy metal from the soil.

Keywords

pollution; phytoaccumulation; phytoremediation; Varaždin; Croatia

Hrčak ID:

141039

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/141039

Publication date:

19.6.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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