Assessment of phytoremediation potential of native plant species naturally growing in a heavy metal-polluted industrial soils

Abstract

Abstract The present study was carried out in Hayat Abad Industrial Estate located in Peshawar to assess the levels of cadmium (Cd) that were present in the soil as well as the plant parts (Roots and shoots). To evaluate the phytoremediation potential of the plants different factors i.e. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF), Translocation Factor (TF), and Bioaccumulation Coefficient were determined. These plants were grown in their native habitats (BAC). We have analysed, cadmium concentration from soil which are collected from 50 different locations ranged from 11.54 mg/Kg (the lowest) to 89.80 mg/Kg (highest). The maximum concentration (89.80 mg/Kg) of cadmium was found in HIE-ST-16L Marble City and HIE-ST-7 Bryon Pharma (88.51 mg/Kg) while its minimum concentration (12.47 mg/Kg) were detected in the soil of Site (HIE-ST-14L Royal PVC Pipe) and (11.54 mg/Kg) at the site (HIE-ST-11 Aries Pharma). Most plant species showed huge potential for plant based approaches like phyto-extraction and phytoremediation. They also showed the potential for phyto-stabilization as well. Based on the concentration of cadmium the most efficient plants for phytoextraction were Cnicus benedictus, Parthenium hysterophorus, Verbesina encelioides, Conyza canadensis, Xanthium strumarium, Chenopodium album, Amaranthus viridis, Chenopodiastrum murale, Prosopis juliflora, Convolvulus arvensis, Stellaria media, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Cerastium dichotomum, Chrozophora tinctoria, Mirabilis jalapa, Medicago polymorpha, Lathyrus aphaca, Dalbergia sissoo, Melilotus indicus and Anagallis arvensis. The cadmium heavy metals in the examined soil were effectively removed by these plant species. Cerastium dichotomum, and Chenopodium murale were reported to be effective in phyto-stabilizing Cd based on concentrations of selected metals in roots and BCFs, TFs, and BACs values.