Absorptive Extraction of Pb by Cattail Plant

Abstract

A kind of cattail (Typhaorientalis Presl) were collected from a tailings of Pb mine and cultivated in a hydroponic solution containing different concentrations of Pb (NO3)2 in order to identify whether T.orientalis is potential for phytoremediation of Pb. The results showed that cattail collected from the Pb mine had a strong accumulation of Pb: the average Pb concentrations in the leaves and roots are 619 mg kg-1 and 1233 mg kg-1, respectively; the translocation factors were high ranging from 0.48 to 0.52; the growth of this cattail was not affected by Pb up to 300 mg L-1. The Pb concentrations in the leaves and roots increased with the increase of Pb level in the nutrient solution and the maximum Pb concentrations in the leaves and roots were 16190 mg kg-1 and 64405 mg kg-1, respectively. This study suggests that T.orientalis could accumulation Pb with great efficiency and is potential for phytoremediation.