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. 2022 Aug 11;10(8):465.
doi: 10.3390/toxics10080465.

Phytoremediation of Soil Contaminated by Organochlorine Pesticides and Toxic Trace Elements: Prospects and Limitations of Paulownia tomentosa

Aigerim Mamirova  1   2 , Almagul Baubekova  3 , Valentina Pidlisnyuk  1 , Elvira Shadenova  2 , Leyla Djansugurova  2 , Stefan Jurjanz  4
Affiliations

Phytoremediation of Soil Contaminated by Organochlorine Pesticides and Toxic Trace Elements: Prospects and Limitations of Paulownia tomentosa

Aigerim Mamirova et al. Toxics. .

Abstract

Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud is a drought-resistant, low-maintenance and fast-growing energy crop that can withstand a wide range of climatic conditions, provides a high biomass yield (approximately 50 t DM ha-1 yr-1), and develops successfully in contaminated sites. In Kazakhstan, there are many historically contaminated sites polluted by a mixture of xenobiotics of organic and inorganic origin that need to be revitalised. Pilot-scale research evaluated the potential of P. tomentosa for the phytoremediation of soils historically contaminated with organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and toxic trace elements (TTEs) to minimise their impact on the environment. Targeted soils from the obsolete pesticide stockpiles located in three villages of Talgar district, Almaty region, Kazakhstan, i.e., Amangeldy (soil A), Beskainar (soil B), and Kyzylkairat (soil K), were subjected to research. Twenty OCPs and eight TTEs (As, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) were detected in the soils. The phytoremediation potential of P. tomentosa was investigated for OCPs whose concentrations in the soils were significantly different (aldrin, endosulfans, endrin aldehyde, HCB, heptachlor, hexabromobenzene, keltan, methoxychlor, and γ-HCH) and for TTEs (Cu, Zn, and Cd) whose concentrations exceeded maximum permissible concentrations. Bioconcentration (BCF) and translocation (TLF) factors were used as indicators of the phytoremediation process. It was ensured that the uptake and translocation of contaminants by P. tomentosa was highly variable and depended on their properties and concentrations in soil. Besides the ability to bioconcentrate Cr, Ni, and Cu, P. tomentosa demonstrated very encouraging results in the accumulation of endosulfans, keltan, and methoxychlor and the phytoextraction of γ-HCH (TLFs of 1.9-9.9) and HCB (BCFs of 197-571). The results of the pilot trials support the need to further investigate the potential of P. tomentosa for phytoremediation on a field scale.

Keywords: Paulownia tomentosa; bioconcentration factor; organochlorine pesticides; phytoremediation; toxic trace elements; translocation factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bioconcentration factors for OCPs: (a) BCFs < 20; (b) BCFs > 50. OCPs highlighted in bold indicate a significant difference between BCFs due to soil origin and plant part effects. Different letters on the boxplots within one compound indicate a significant difference at p < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Translocation factors of OCPs. Different letters on the boxplots within one compound indicate a significant difference at p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bioconcentration factors for TTEs in plant parts: (a) AGB; (b) roots; (c) TTE concentrations in the research soils Different letters on the bar and boxplots within one element indicate a significant difference at p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Translocation factors for TTEs: (a) TLFs; (b) concentrations in soil. Different letters on the bar and boxplots within one element indicate a significant difference at p < 0.05.
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