ISSN 2375-088X
African Journal of Soil Science Vol. 1 (2), pp. 016-022, November, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Uptake of Pb, Zn and Cu by roots and shoots of fast growing plants grown in contaminated soil in Vietnam
Nguyen Huu Thanh1, Tran Thi Le Ha1, Cao Viet Ha1, Nguyen Duc Hung1, Phan Quoc Hung1, Kiyoshi Kurosawa2* and Kazuhiko Egashira3
1Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Hanoi University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan
3Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +81926423071. Fax: +81926423077.
Accepted June 28, 2013
Abstract
The phytoremediation of soil contaminated with lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) from industrial wastewater discharge in a farming village near Hanoi City was investigated. The first growing plant species tested were the Spanish needle, water primrose, common willow herb, and water spinach. Uptake by roots and shoots per unit land area for each species was calculated and compared. The uptake of the heavy metals per unit area was higher in shoots than in roots for each plant species and was affected by the higher biomass production of the shoots. For the roots, the uptake did not differ by species, but did differ by heavy metal. For the shoots, the uptake differed by both plant species and heavy metal with the common willow herb having higher Pb and Zn uptake compared to those of the other three species. For the common willow herb, the uptake of heavy metal was in order of Pb > Zn > Cu. The results indicate that common willow herb has a superior phytoremediation capacity among the plants tested, particularly for the uptake of Pb.
Key words: Plant biomass, farming village, industrial wastewater, phytoremediation.