TITLE:
Phytoaccumulation of Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead by Brassica juncea Parents and Their F1 Hybrids
AUTHORS:
Moupia Rahman, Nazmul Haq, Ian D. Williams
KEYWORDS:
Bioremediation, Phytoaccumulation, Heavy Metal, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, B. juncea (cvs. Rai and BARI-11)
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.7 No.5,
April
7,
2016
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.