Bioavailability, Accumulation and Distribution of Toxic Metals (As, Cd, Ni and Pb) and Their Impact on Sinapis alba Plant Nutrient Metabolism

Gabriela-Geanina Vasile, Anda-Gabriela Tenea, Cristina Dinu, Ana Maria Mihaela Iordache, Stefania Gheorghe, Mihaela Mureseanu and Luoana Florentina Pascu
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Gabriela-Geanina Vasile: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, 57-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei Street, 060652 Bucharest, Romania
Anda-Gabriela Tenea: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, 57-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei Street, 060652 Bucharest, Romania
Cristina Dinu: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, 57-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei Street, 060652 Bucharest, Romania
Ana Maria Mihaela Iordache: Department of Informatics, Statistics and Mathematics, Romanian—American University, 1B Expozitiei Bld., District 1, 012101 Bucharest, Romania
Stefania Gheorghe: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, 57-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei Street, 060652 Bucharest, Romania
Mihaela Mureseanu: Chemistry Department, Science Faculty, Craiova University, 107i Bucharest Road, 200585 Craiova, Romania
Luoana Florentina Pascu: Control Pollution Department, National Research and Development Institute for Industrial Ecology ECOIND, 57-73 Drumul Podu Dambovitei Street, 060652 Bucharest, Romania

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-24

Abstract: This study presents the behavior of white mustard seedlings Sinapis alba grown for three months in laboratory polluted soil containing As, Cd, Ni and Pb. Four different experiments were performed in which As was combined with the other three toxic metals in different combinations (As, AsCd, AsCdNi, AsCdNiPb), keeping the same concentrations of As and Cd in all tests and following the national soil quality regulations. The effects of these metals were monitored by the analytical control of metal concentrations in soil and plants, bioavailability tests of mobile metal fractions using three different extracting solutions (DTPA + TEA + CaCl 2 -DTPA, DTPA + CaCl 2 -CAT, and CH 3 COONH 4 + EDTA-EDTA) and calculation of bioaccumulation and translocation factors. Additionally, micro, and macro-nutrients both in soil and plant (root, stem, leaves, flowers and seeds) were analyzed in order to evaluate the impact of toxic metals on plant nutrient metabolism. Metals were significantly and differently accumulated in the plant tissues, especially under AsCdNi and AsCdNiPb treatments. Significant differences ( p < 0.05) in the concentration of both As and Cd were highlighted. Translocation could be influenced by the presence of other toxic metals, such as Cd, but also of essential metals, through the competition and antagonism processes existing in plant tissues. Significantly, more Cd and Ni levels were detected in leaves and flowers. Cd was also detected in seeds above the WHO limit, but the results are not statistically significant ( p > 0.05). The extraction of metallic nutrients (Zn, Cu, Mn, Ni, Mg, K, Fe, Ca, Cr) in the plant was not influenced by the presence of toxic metal combinations, on the contrary, their translocation was more efficient in the aerial parts of the plants. No phytotoxic effects were recorded during the exposure period. The most efficient methods of metal extraction from soil were for As-CAT; Cd-all methods; Pb and Ni-DTPA. The Pearson correlations ( r ) between applied extraction methods and metal detection in plants showed positive correlations for all toxic metals as follows: As-CAT > DTPA > EDTA, Cd-DTPA > CAT > EDTA, Ni-EDTA = DTPA > CAT, Pb-EDTA = DTPA = CAT). The results revealed that Sinapis alba has a good ability to accumulate the most bioavailable metals Cd and Ni, to stabilize As at the root level and to block Pb in soil.

Keywords: bioaccumulation; translocation; white mustard; trace metals; contaminated soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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