The Growth of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Ife Brown (Leguminosae) in a Cement Site Rich in Heavy Metals

Abstract

Seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Ife Brown sown in the site at close proximity to a cement factory (polluted), produced sprawling plants with their life span shortened by 28 days, a low pod yield, few and small sized seeds. The time of flower initiation, pod formation to pod ripening was markedly reduced. These plants accumulated a significantly high (17.01 micromol mol(-1)) concentration of aluminium (a constituent of cement) in the leaves and copper (13.68 micromol mol(-1)) in the seeds. Furthermore, the plants showed a low uptake of iron (a prominent constituent of cement) from the iron-rich polluted site. The heavy metals present in cement dust also induced a deficiency in phosphorus, magnesium and ammonia; and synergistically attracted the presence of other heavy metals such as zinc, copper, lead, nickel, chromium, silver and cadmium in significantly high quantities (p = 0.05).