Meta-Analysis of the Copper, Zinc, and Cadmium Absorption Capacities of Aquatic Plants in Heavy Metal-Polluted Water

Jing Li, Haixin Yu and Yaning Luan
Additional contact information
Jing Li: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Haixin Yu: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Yaning Luan: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: The use of aquatic plants for phytoremediation is an important method for restoring polluted ecosystems. We sought to analyze the capacity of different aquatic plant species to absorb heavy metals and to summarize available relevant scientific data on this topic. We present a meta-analysis of Cu, Zn, and Cd absorption capacities of aquatic plants to provide a scientific basis for the selection of aquatic plants suitable for remediation of heavy-metal pollution. Plants from the Gramineae, Pontederiaceae, Ceratophyllaceae, Typhaceae and Haloragaceae showed relatively strong abilities to absorb these metals. The ability of a particular plant species to absorb a given metal was strongly correlated with its ability to absorb the other metals. However, the absorption abilities varied with the plant organ, with the following trend: roots > stems > leaves. The pH of the water and the life habits of aquatic plants (submerged and emerged) also affect the plant’s ability to absorb elements. Acidic water aids the uptake of heavy metals by plants. The correlation observed between element concentrations in plants with different aquatic life habits suggested that the enrichment mechanism is related to the surface area of the plant exposed to water. We argue that this meta-analysis would aid the selection of aquatic plants suitable for heavy-metal absorption from polluted waters.

Keywords: phytoremediation; meta-analysis; heavy metals; aquatic plants; cadmium metal absorption; copper metal absorption; zinc metal absorption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/12/14959/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/12/14959/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:12:p:14959-14973:d:59466

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().