A new two-step screening method for prospecting of trace element accumulating plants

Abstract

A vulnerable point of the currently used approach to the search for the new species capable of abnormal accumulation (hyperaccumulation) of trace elements is that most studies have been conducted in laboratory conditions and focused on the determination of a limited number of elements. We propose a methodology that enables screening for multi-element accumulating plants. This methodology is based on two analytical steps: a semiquantitative analysis mode by ICP-MS that allows selection of plant samples which are enriched in one or more trace elements, and a quantitative analysis necessary for confirmation of the results derived from the first step. The proposed methodology was tested in the study of 30 plant samples. Ten elements with the highest concentrations obtained in the semiquantitative analyses were determined quantitatively with the following detection limits (in mg/kg): 0.001 for Ag, 0.08 for Ba, 0.002 for Cd, 0.005 for Co, 0.01 for Cr, 0.003 for Cu, 1.4 for Fe, 0.012 for Mn, 0.03 for Ni, 0.006 for Pb, 0.001 for Sc, 0.001 for Tl and 0.06 for Zn. The CRM recovery values obtained were in the range of 80-103 %, and the precision of the measurements (as RSD) was in the range of 0.34-4.05 %. We also propose a simple method for evaluation of typical element concentrations in plants collected for analyses. Our approach provides a novel screening method for both identification of new hyperaccumulators and for studying a larger number of elements accumulated by plants. This method may find its application in environmental biotechnology.

Panoramic Semiquantitave Analysis for Multielement Characterization of Liquid and Solid Waste Samples

“…In cases where the obtained concentrations of the PTEs are close to the maximum permitted values, their determination with a quantitative method for higher accuracy could be applied. Similar recommendations have already been made for analysis of plant [31] and soil samples [39]. Thus, it proves that the TotalQuant method is a suitable approach for a quick assessment of the possibility of sludge application to agriculture with satisfactory accuracy.…”

“…The TotalQuant method finds application due to the serious advantages it provides as an opportunity to obtain quantitative data for a large number of elements at a very high speed, low consumption of reagents and energy, and less analytical waste, which makes it cheaper and greener [27,28]. The method has been applied for analysis of water samples [23,26,29], plants [30,31], soils [32,33], air particles [34], biological samples [24], geological samples [35], et al The published data for the accuracy vary widely and may depend on the concentration range of the elements, the matrix, the measured mass, etc. Usually, the quantitative analysis is characterized with very good accuracy, better than 10% [26], whereas the accuracy of the TotalQuant method is worse, and varies within quite wide limits, from below 10% [24,26,30] to 30-50% [28,29].…”

Rock-type control of Ni, Cr, and Co phytoavailability in ultramafic soils

“…Currently, research aiming plant communities in ultramafic areas are focused mostly on Ni-hyperaccumulators referred as species with Ni content of at least 1000 mg kg −1 in the dry matter of leaves i.e. Pycnandra acuminata (Reeves 1992;Reeves and Baker 2000;Reeves et al 2007a; Van der Ent et al 2013a;Gałuszka et al 2015; Van der Ent et al 2015). Furthermore, some Nihyperaccumulators give opportunity in phytomining operations because of high content of Ni and relatively high biomass (Nkrumah et al 2016).…”

Barium concentration in cast roe deer antlers related to air pollution caused by burning of barium-enriched coals in southern Poland

“…Barium concentration in topsoil (0–30 cm) in Balin ranges from 30 to 240 ppm (Pasieczna 2011 ); whereas Ba content in topsoil in the vicinity of Żywiec is generally less than 50 ppm (Lis and Pasieczna 1995 ). While plants are known to accumulate Ba in their green parts (Kabata-Pendias and Pendias 1999 ; Gałuszka et al 2015 ), and food ingestion was identified as the primary exposure to Ba (ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 2007 ), this intake route cannot explain the difference in Ba concentrations in antlers from the Balin and Żywiec areas.…”