Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Using Cotton Plant: A Field Analysis.

Abstract

Phytoremediation, a technique dependent on the heavy metal bioaccumulation and translocation in different parts of plants, is an efficient and environment friendly method for decontamination of soils from metals. In the present study, the bioaccumulation and translocation of heavy metals was analyzed in different parts of cotton plant grown in intensively cultivated agricultural fields of Malwa region of Punjab, India. The soils were found to be alkaline in nature with very high sand contents which resulted in low retention of metals (As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Sr and Zn) in soils. But, the bioaccumulation factor and translocation factor calculated for metal accumulation analysis in cotton plant parts were found to be above 1 (maximum 9.13 for Sr) which indicated that the cotton plant (a non-edible fibre crop) can prove to be a significant system for phytoremediation and an efficient green tool for decontamination of soils from heavy metals.