Exploitation of Phytoremediation Potential in Different Plants for Reducing Heavy Metals Burden on Contaminated Soils of Gujranwala District, Punjab-Pakistan

Abstract

The current study was conducted for determination of pollutants absorption capacity in local plants growing in the contaminated sites. The four sites were selected randomly from Gujranwala District (Punjab) for determining their pollution status of the soils and uptake level of different heavy metals in the growing vegetation. The plant samples (roots, shoots and leaves) were subjected to acid digestion. The conc. of Ni, Zn, Cd, Mn, Fe, and Cu metals was determined by atomic absorptions spectrometry. The selected soil samples were analyzed for the determination of heavy metals. The Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn & Cd were found relatively at higher concentrations at the soil surface in most of the samples, however, Fe, Ni, Mn, and Cu were reported to be higher below 6-12 inches in some soil samples. Plants samples were analyzed of Achryanthes aspera, Amaranthus spinosis, Eichornia crassips, Typha latifolia, Polygonum glabrum and Trianthema portulacostrium species for heavy metals absorption. It was recorded that almost all the selected plants absorbed relatively higher concentration of the metals as compared to the respective habitat soil. Nevertheless, different plants showed variable performance on different conc. of metals exposure. It was interesting to note that shoots and leaves accumulated relatively higher concentrations of certain heavy metals than those of the roots. In a nutshell, the preliminary study of the selected sites divulges that further scrutiny of these plants may be helpful to tag some candidate plants to be used for controlling heavy metals pollution.