Abstract
The effectiveness of sunflower to extract harmful heavy metals from landfill leachate using phytoremediation technique was studied in this paper. A case study of Phursungi garbage dump yard located in Phursungi village in Pune, India was taken for this study as the residents have to deal with contaminated water throughout the year which induces diseases like dysentery, cholera, hepatitis, and heavy metal poisoning related diseases. There are various methods in phytoremediation, among which phytoextraction was used for this study. An experiment was carried out to test the removal efficiency of BOD, COD, TS, and heavy metals namely As, Hg and Pb from the soil by sunflowers with and without the addition of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi. These fungi were used in soil to accelerate the process of extraction. Leachate diluted with 60% water was supplied such that the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was more than 15 days (19 days achieved). The values of contaminants were checked for permissible limits according to standards for land disposal of treated leachates given in Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW) rules, 2016 and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India. The removal efficiency of Pb from soil was almost the same for plants supplied with VAM (67.92%) and plants without VAM (66.67%). Arsenic (As) removal efficiency was 100% for plants with and without VAM. For mercury (Hg), it was more for plants without VAM (96.29%) than plants with VAM (77.78). Thus, it was concluded that VAM was ineffective. Cd and Cr concentrations in leachate samples were observed to be within the permissible limits. Hence, they were discarded for calculation of removal efficiency.
Highlights
About 900 - 1200 tons of solid waste is dumped every day at the Phursungi—Uruli Devachi area in Pune for past 20 years which has been causing health issues to the residents due to contamination of the air and water
They grew faster than expected, i.e., in 1.5 months due to leachate application as it acted as a fertilizer, which can be inferred from high Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) content observed in the leachate sample in summer season
Removal efficiencies of BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Solids (TS) from soil based on outlet results for plant samples without Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (VAM) (BOD—43.75%, COD—47.5%, TS—13%) were more than samples with VAM (BOD—12.5%, COD—12.5%, TS—4.84%)
Summary
About 900 - 1200 tons of solid waste is dumped every day at the Phursungi—Uruli Devachi area in Pune for past 20 years which has been causing health issues to the residents due to contamination of the air and water. The groundwater gets polluted due to percolation of leachate into the ground [1] It can cause skin irritation, nausea, and headache, while chronic exposure can lead to anemia, cancer, and coma [2]. Sunflower has been found to have high biomass at varying exposure concentrations which resulted in increased uptake of heavy metals. A VAM fungus enhances the nutrient and water uptake capacity of the plant and helps store it. It makes the contaminants bioavailable for plant uptake. VAM is an Endo type of fungus which stores the contaminants intrinsically and transports them to the plant shoots (phytoextraction) [10]
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