Selection of a suitable plant for phytoremediation in mining artisanal zones

Abstract

A study was undertaken with the aim of identifying a suitable plant for the phytoremediation of metal-polluted soil from an artisanal mining area in Ecuador. Three zones including a natural zone (NZ), abandoned zone (AZ) and intensively mined zone (IZ) were selected. Three common native plants grown in the three zones were identified and collected, including Miconia zamorensis, Axonopus compressus and Erato polymnioides. The percentage of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization that benefits their own survival in polluted soil was analyzed in the root samples of these candidate species. Analysis of the soils and plants collected from the different zones showed that the concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd were comparatively lower in the NZ, higher in the AZ and IZ, and highest in the AZ for all the metals. The concentration of all these metals in plant tissues was the highest in E. polymnioides. The data analysis including the metal accumulation index, bioconcentration factor and translocation factor strongly identified E. polymnioides as a hyperaccumulator plant suitable for phytoremediation.

Phytoremediation of Soils Contaminated with Heavy Metals from Gold Mining Activities Using Clidemia sericea D. Don

“…Marrugo-Negrete et al [5], presented for Clidemia sp. Hg concentrations in their tissues (Root: 0.23 mg kg −1 , Stem: 0.11 mg kg −1 , Leaves: 0.22 mg kg −1 ) results similar to those obtained in T2 and T3; and Chamba et al [42], for M. zamorensis showed high Pb concentrations in root: 379 mg kg −1 , stem: 67 mg kg −1 and leaves: 68 mg kg −1 , higher than our study, and Cd concentrations in root (2.8 mg kg −1 ), stem (0.89 mg kg −1 ) and leaves (0.80 mg kg −1 ), similar to those obtained for leaves and stem in our study.…”

“…at T0 and T1. Chamba et al [ 42 ] reported for M. zamorensis BCF (Pb: 0.24–0.59 and Cd: <0.06–1.01) and TF (Pb: 0.17–0.19 and Cd: <0.05–0.29) values, similar TF > 0.1 for Cd in the four treatments, similar TF for Pb at T2, and similar BCF (1.01) to T1 for Cd. Demonstrating that the accumulation and translocation capacity of these metals are presented in different proportions, depending on the concentration and bioavailability of metals, physicochemical characteristics of the soil such as pH and OM content, in addition to the cellular mechanisms of plants to avoid or tolerate the absorption of metals [ 113 , 127 , 128 ].…”

“…a translocation factor of 1.43 for Hg, indicating that this metal can be transferred from the root to the plant shoots. Chamba et al [ 42 ], for the species Miconia zamorensis Gleason belonging to the Melastomataceae family as C. sericea , evidenced high concentrations of Pb and Cd in root, stem, and leaves. This indicates that this species may have the potential for phytoremediation of PTEs (Hg, Pb, and Cd); in this sense, the evaluation of this species under controlled conditions in a pot assay leads to the generation of valuable information over the quantity of toxic elements that accumulated in the plant organs to restore polluted sites.…”

An Assessment of the Metal Removal Capability of Endemic Chilean Species

“…The bioconcentration factor ( BCF ) was obtained for the roots using Equation (2) [ 39 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Research on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining

“…Faced with this problem, finding innovative research to eliminate, replace, or reduce environmental pollution in mineral processing is standard. Some examples are the cyanide phytoremediation by water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) in the cyanide effluents treatment in small-scale gold mining [253], hyperaccumulation of zinc by Corydalis davidii in Zn-polluted soils [254], Erato polymnioides as a phytoremediation plant for soils contaminated with Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd [255], and Heliconia psittacorum in remediating soils and water polluted with heavy metals [256].…”