The Study of Cadmium Uptake by Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) Using a Natural Modelling Approach

Abstract

The results of the investigation on the accumulation of cadmium by water hyacinth, depending on the conditions of pollutant exposure and the presence of various additives are discussed. The main specialty of this study is that all the experiments were carried out in natural conditions using the approach based on the application of the capacities called minicosms. It allowed estimating hit consequences of pollutant on ecosystem most really having made experiment in the conditions as much as possible close to the natural. In this article a very important problem of an accuracy and reliability of the results of trace elements determination in plants is also debated. As a result of carried investigations it was shown that the degree of cadmium extraction by hyacinth from contaminated natural water while maintaining the viability of the plants depends on the way of pollutant introducing into the reservoir and the maximum (about 79%) value is observed in the case of it’s gradual entry.