Abstract
In the agricultural regions of Burkina Faso, urban solid waste fertilizers were usually applied. This activity is likely to contaminate the soils and expose populations to serious diseases. This study aims to assess rate of heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr) contamination in both agricultural lixisol and vertisol and to evaluate the removal efficiency of heavy metals using Vetiver grass on different two mixed heavy metal contaminated soils. A pot experiment was conducted to compare the metal accumulation and overall efficiency of metal uptake by different plant parts (roots and shoots) on both tropical soils. After 3 and 6 months growing on laboratory conditions, Vetiver grass plants were harvested and heavy metal concentrations in shoot and root parts determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. The results indicate that at 3 and 6 moths, the shoot and root concentrations of heavy metals in Vetiver grass harvested in lixisol were higher than vertisol. For different plant parts, all metal concentrations were higher in root than in shoot, except Cu and Pb. At the 3 and 6 months, the BCF values > 1 for Cd, Cu and Zn in both soils showed Vetiver grass as an effective phyto-stabilizer for these metals. However, the TF values > 1 for Cd (lixisol), Mn, Zn Ni and Cr (vertisol) indicated the efficiency of Vetiver for phytoextraction. The results of this study showed that Vetiver is more effective in lixisol, but it can be used for remediation of both studied tropical soils from agricultural region of Burkina Faso. Nevertheless, considering the special limitations of the experimental conditions, further field monitoring is necessary to demonstrate the phytoremediation efficiency of Vetiver in agricultural soils under the climatic conditions of Burkina Faso.
Highlights
Over these last years, soil contamination has received much global attention as it instigates considerable risks to both human health and the environment (Doran, 2002; Azam, 2016; Gómez-Sagasti et al, 2016)
The results of this study showed that Vetiver is more effective in lixisol, but it can be used for remediation of both studied tropical soils from agricultural region of Burkina Faso
Vetiver grass takes up heavy metals in vertisol and lixisol
Summary
Soil contamination has received much global attention as it instigates considerable risks to both human health and the environment (Doran, 2002; Azam, 2016; Gómez-Sagasti et al, 2016). Heavy metals are released into the environment by human activities via industrial and agricultural practices and disposal of urban sewage sludge (Khan, 2005). Some heavy metals, such as Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn, are essential soil micronutrients required by living organisms in trace amounts for biological metabolic processes (Pilbeam & Barker 2007), and others heavy metals like Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg and As are non-essential for the growth of living organisms. All heavy metals are hazardous to human health as it bio-accumulated via the food chain due to soil-to-plant transfer of metals (Khan, 2005; Storelli 2008; Martin & Griswold 2009; Clemens & Ma, 2016; Ali et al, 2019)
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