Heavy Metal Accumulation in Common Aquatic Plants in Rivers and Lakes in the Taihu Basin

Li Bai, Xiao-Long Liu, Jian Hu, Jun Li, Zhong-Liang Wang, Guilin Han, Si-Liang Li and Cong-Qiang Liu
Additional contact information
Li Bai: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
Xiao-Long Liu: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
Jian Hu: The State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Jun Li: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
Zhong-Liang Wang: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
Guilin Han: School of Scientific Research, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Si-Liang Li: Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Cong-Qiang Liu: Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: We investigated the concentrations of 10 heavy metals in Potamogeton malaianus , Nymphoides peltata , Eichhornia crassipes , and Hydrilla verticillata to evaluate their potential to bioaccumulate heavy metals and related influencing factors in Taihu Lake. Enrichment factor (EF) values of Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Co, Pb, and V were above 2.0, indicating moderate to significant contamination in sediment. Most of Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Ni in P. malaianus , E. crassipes , and H. verticillata and V in N. peltata were within excess/toxic level in plants, but higher than normal level. Even though no aquatic plants in this study were identified as a hyperaccumulator, relatively higher concentrations in aquatic plants were found in Taihu Lake than have been found in other previous studies. Heavy metal in submerged plants, especially in their stems, seemed to be more closely related to metals in water and sediment than those in floating-leaf plants. Ratios of metals in stem versus leaves in all plants ranged from 0.2 to 25.8, indicating various accumulation capabilities of plant organs. These findings contribute to the application of submerged aquatic plants to heavy metal removal from moderately contaminated lakes.

Keywords: aquatic plants; heavy metals; Taihu Lake; bioaccumulation capability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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