Phytoextraction of Cd and Zn as single or mixed pollutants from soil by rape (Brassica napus)

Abstract

This paper analyses the capacity of the rape (Brassica napus) to extract Cd and Zn from the soil and the effect of these metals on the morphometric parameters of the plant (length, weight, surface area, fractal dimension of leaves). Rape plants were mostly affected by the combined toxicity of the Cd and Zn mixture that caused a significant reduction in the rate of seed germination, the plant biomass quantity and the fractal dimension. In the case of Cd soil pollution, the bioaccumulation factor (BAF), bioaccumulation coefficient (BAC) as well as the heavy metal root-to-stalk translocation factor (TF) were determined. The results showed that B. napus had a great potential as a cadmium hyperaccumulator but not as an accumulator of Zn or Cd + Zn mixture. The efficiency of phytoextraction rape was 0.8-1.22 % for a soil heavily polluted with cadmium.

Keywords: Bioaccumulation and translocation factor; Heavy metal pollution of soil; Phytoremediation.