Abstract
Although Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) is reported to be a good accumulator of metals, little is known of the selected varieties of B. juncea (cvs. Rai and BARI-11). This paper investigates the phytoaccumulation of arsenic, cadmium and lead by B. juncea (cvs. Rai and BARI-11) parents and F1 hybrids. The experiment was conducted in the hydroponic media in the greenhouse of University of Southampton under a Randomised Block Design. Sodium arsenite, cadmium sulphate and lead nitrate with 0 ppm, 0.5 ppm and 1 ppm were used. The cadmium treated plants were analysed by Varian Atomic absorption spectrophotometer-200. The samples of arsenic and lead were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer. The results suggest that arsenic was detected only in the root systems while cadmium and lead were detected both in the root and shoot systems. Significant differences in the uptake were observed for different concentrations. Accumulation of arsenic was detected only in the root systems of B. juncea (cvs. Rai and BARI-11) at lower concentrations. Hence, this can be used as an agriculturally viable and efficient phytoaccumulator in the arsenic affected areas where contamination level is low and the contamination occurs at the rooting level.
Highlights
The presence of Heavy metals in the environment is a natural phenomenon, anthropogenic activities add Heavy metals to the environment
This paper investigates the phytoaccumulation of arsenic, cadmium and lead by B. juncea
The result suggests that arsenic was detected only in the root systems of B. juncea parents and their hybrids
Summary
The presence of Heavy metals in the environment is a natural phenomenon, anthropogenic activities add Heavy metals to the environment. Scientists have discovered physical and chemical remediation technologies to clean up contaminated sites [18]-[20] involving excavation, burial, ex-situ treatment, in-situ (chemistry-bioremediation), encapsulation, ion exchange reverse osmosis [18] and natural attenuation [21] [22]. These technologies can be expensive and impractical considering the notable area contaminated by metals around the world [15] [20] [23] [24]
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