Assessment of phytoremediation efficacy of Amaranthus viridis L. against cadmium and nickel

Document Type : Research articles.

Authors

1 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, 63514, Fayoum, Egypt

2 Pollution Management Department, Environment and natural materials research institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg Al-Arab City 21934, Alexandria, Egypt

3 Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Fayoum University, 63514, Fayoum, Egypt

Abstract

Phytoremediation as an emerging advantageous technique may play a strong role in overcoming the issue of heavy metals accumulation in the soil. The main purpose of this work was to assess the efficiency of Amaranthus viridis as a phytoremediator weed to remove cadmium, Cd (0.0, 2.5, 5 ,20 ,80 and 200 ppm) and nickel, Ni (0.0, 60, 80, 160, 320 and 400 ppm) from soil. The experiment was held with seed cultivation in pots filled with sandy loam soil to apply phytoremediation process for 67 days. The obtained results prove the coinciding depression in root length, shoot length and number of leaves by about 85% with serial augmentation of Cd and of Ni. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) and Translocation Factor (TF) values are indicator for high uptake and accumulation of Cd more than of Ni in roots rather than in shoots. Statistical analyses included descriptive analyses, one way ANOVA and Pearson Coefficient variant (p ≤ 0.05) proved highly positive significant effects. This study put the candidate species in the tilt of promising plants that would be effective in Cd and Ni phytostabilization.
 

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