The Potential Use of Vetiveria zizanioides for the Phytoremediation of Antimony, Arsenic and Their Co-Contamination

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) contaminations are the well reported and alarming issues of various contaminated smelting and mining sites all over the world, especially in China. The present hydroponic study was to assess the capacity of Vetiveria zizanioides for Sb, As and their interactive accumulations. The novelty of the present research is this that the potential of V. zizanioides for Sb and As alone and their interactive accumulation are unaddressed. This is the first report about the interactive co-accumulation of Sb and As in V. zizanioides. Highest applied Sb and As contaminations significantly inhibited the plant growth. Applied Sb and As alone significantly increased their concentrations in the roots/shoot of V. zizanioides. While co-contamination of Sb and As steadily increased their concentrations, in the plant. The co-contamination of Sb and As revealed a positive correlation between the two, as they supplemented the uptake and accumulation of each other. The overall translocation (TF) and bioaccumulation factors (BF) of Sb in V. zizanioides, were 0.75 and 4. While the TF and BF of As in V. zizanioides, were 0.86 and 10. V. zizanioides proved as an effective choice for the phytoremediation and ecosystem restoration of Sb and As contaminated areas.

Phytoremediation of Arsenic Contaminated Water Using Aquatic, Semi-Aquatic and Submerged Weeds

“…V. zizinoids, another semi aquatic weed reported to be capable of extracting As from contaminated water [17,55]. In a hydroponic study (21 days), root to shoot As uptake it was increased with increase in As concentrations by V. zizinoids can uptake [17]. The BCF and TF for As were 10 and 0.86 indicates that V. zizinoids was an As hyper accumulator and stored higher proportion of As in their root system.…”

“…and Canna spp. had been widely reported to accumulate As in their body parts from contaminated soils and water [16,17,[48][49][50][51]. Alternanthera philoxeroides had potential to extract As from contaminated water and stored in root system [52,53].…”

“…The As accumulation in Phragnites austratlis followed in the order of roots > rhizomes > leaves and maximum total As uptake was registered 32.5 mg kg −1 [54] . V. zizinoids, another semi aquatic weed reported to be capable of extracting As from contaminated water [17,55]. In a hydroponic study (21 days), root to shoot As uptake it was increased with increase in As concentrations by V. zizinoids can uptake [17].…”

“…Among the semi aquatic weeds. Apart from these free floating aquatic weed flora such as Arundo donax, Vetivaria sp., and Alternanthera philoxeroides had been successfully utilized for remediation of As contaminated water [16,17]. In this chapter we are going to discuss about arsenic removal potential of various aquatic and semi aquatic weeds along with their future use for phytoremediation purpose.…”

Integrating Broussonetia papyrifera and Two Bacillus Species to Repair Soil Antimony Pollutions

“…Antimony (Sb) is a common harmful and toxic heavy metal in the environment. It is carcinogenic to the human body and has a long incubation period ( Mirza et al, 2017 ). The toxic degree of Sb to the environment is closely related to its existing form and valence state.…”