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The suitability of Trapa natans for phytoremediation of inorganic contaminants from the aquatic ecosystems
Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Ecological Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng
Short communication
The suitability of Trapa natans for phytoremediation of inorganic contaminants from the aquatic ecosystems Swetaa , Kuldeep Bauddhb , Ragini Singha , Rana Pratap Singha,* a b
Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University), Lucknow, 226025 Uttar Pradesh, India Centre for Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, 835205 Ranchi, India
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history: Received 16 October 2014 Received in revised form 14 May 2015 Accepted 8 June 2015 Available online xxx
The discharges from industries contaminate ponds maintained by the villagers for various purposes including cultivation of Trapa natans (L.) which bears fruits during winter season. The fruits of T. natans are edible and sold in local markets on the large scale. In the present study, the plants of T. natans were collected from ten ponds located nearby industrial areas of Unnao District, U.P., India to assess cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) accumulation in different tissues including the fruits. It was found that Cd in water ranged from 0.006 mg L1 (Sareni) to 0.015 mg L1 (Maurawa and Ajgain). The highest concentration of Cu was found in Bara region (0.226 mg L1), whereas, it was lowest in Nigoha (0.008 mg L1). Both the metals were accumulated in significant amount in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans. Cadmium was accumulated highest in the roots, shoots and fruits i.e. 2.656, 2.081 and 1.189 mg g1 dry weights respectively of the plants, collected from Ajgain region. The highest concentration of Cu was found in the plant tissues of Bara region i.e. 15.626, 12.3, 9.46 mg g1 dry weights in roots, shoots and fruits respectively. It appeared that substantial amount of the metals was found to be accumulated in the roots and shoots, which depicts the metal accumulating ability of this plant. However, both Cd and Cu were translocated in the fruits of T. natans which are edible, and thus showed a risk to contaminate the food chain and may also become hazardous for the human health if the same plants are used for the consumption purposes. The results of this study indicate that T. natans is a suitable candidate for the phytoremediation of heavy metals from the aquatic ecosystem but the process requires a proper care and maintenance. ã2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Bioaccumulation Cadmium Copper Trapa natans Phytoremediation
1. Introduction Growing human population and economic development, attribute elevating nutrients, leading to the eutrophication and heavy metal pollution in the aquatic environment (Pekey et al., 2004; Li et al., 2008; Krishna et al., 2009; Gebrekidan et al., 2013; Ghanbarpour et al., 2014). The practices like urbanization, industrialization, mining etc. are the major causes for toxic metal contamination in the surface water bodies (Krishna et al., 2009; Chowdhury et al., 2013; Gebrekidan et al., 2013; Ghanbarpour et al., 2014). Albeit, several metals are essential for the growth and development of plants but in a trace amount only. Majority of heavy metals are potentially toxic for animals, plants as well as microorganisms. Phytoremediation is a natural and direct use of living green plants for the remediation of contaminated soil, sludge, sediments and water (Kumar et al., 2013; Sainger et al.,
* Corresponding author. Fax: +91 5222440821. E-mail address: [email protected] (R.P. Singh). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.06.003 0925-8574/ ã 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2014; Bauddh and Singh, 2015). The technology can be used to clean up excessive nutrients, toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, poly aromatic hydrocarbons and landfill leachates (Rawat and Singh, 2010; Bauddh and Singh, 2012a,b, 2015; Sood et al., 2012; Kumar et al., 2013; daSilva et al., 2014). The selection of appropriate plant species for this process is key component. Several studies have been conducted and report that Trapa natans has good phytoremediation potential for the removal of heavy metals and other inorganic pollutant (Lauchlan et al., 2004; Begum et al., 2009; Skinner et al., 2007; Suñe et al., 2007; Rawat and Singh, 2010). The fruits of T. natans are edible by human beings in many countries of the world thus, it is also essential to find out the bioaccumulation and translocation of heavy metals in edible parts of T. natans growing in the metal contaminated surface water bodies. The present study endeavor to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of water collected from 10 ponds. Further to study the bioaccumulation of Cd and Cu in the roots and their translocation to the shoots as well as edible part of the plant i.e. fruits have been analyzed.
40
Sweta et al. / Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
2. Material and methods 2.1. Description of the site The plants and water samples were collected from ten ponds viz. Asoha, Purwa, Maurawa, Bihar, Bighapur, Ajgain, Sahrawan, Bara, Nigoha and Sareni of Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India which lies between Latitude 26 80 N & 27 20 N and Longitude 80 30 E & 8130 E (Fig. 1). The experimental sites received numerous contaminants from industrial activities, surface runoff, and domestic sources. The sampling was done in the month of January (harvesting time of fruits of T. natans). Water and plant samples from each of the sites were collected from six different locations. The plants collected from the sites washed thoroughly with running water followed by distilled water. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples were determined by using pH-meter and conductivity-meter respectively. Nitrate content in the plant and water was estimated according to the Catalado method (Catalado et al., 1975). Other physicochemical parameters viz. total dissolved solids (TDS), and total suspended solids (TSS) were analyzed following the standard methods of APHA (2005). Cadmium and copper content in the shoots and fruits of T. natans were determined after digesting the oven dried powdered samples in perchloric acid–nitric acid mixture (1:3 v/v). All the digested samples were analyzed by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA 240 FS, Varian).
ðX YÞ Metal concentrationðmgg1 dwtÞ ¼ V W where X = reading in ppm for test sample, Y = reading in ppm for blank, V = final volume of digested samples (mL) and W = dry weight of the sample (g). For analysis of the metals in water, 90 mL of water sample was taken in conical flask having 10 mL of acid mixture of perchloric acid and nitric acid (1:5 v/v). The samples were digested till the solution became transparent. The solution was filtered through Whattman No. 1 filter paper in a volumetric flask. The concentration of Cd and Cu were estimated by using AA 240 FS, Varian, as mentioned above with. Metal concentrationðmgL1 Þ ¼
ðX YÞ V1 V2
where X = reading in ppm for test sample, Y = reading in ppm for blank, V1 = final volume of digested sample (mL) and V2 = volume of sample taken (mL). 3. Results and discussion The physicochemical characteristics of water samples collected from different ponds have been given in Table 1. The results revealed that pH was found in the range of slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.9–7.72). The highest pH i.e. 7.72 was found in the water collected from the site of Bihar region. According to Garg et al. (2010), pH range from 6.0 to 8.5 indicates productive nature of water body. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples
Fig. 1. Green circles marked in the map are study areas. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Sweta et al. / Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
41
Table 1 Physicochemical characteristics of water collected from different pond. Sites
EC (M ohm cm1)
pH
TDS (mg L1)
TSS (mg L1)
Nitrate (mg L1)
Cd (mg L1)
Cu (mg L1)
Asoha Purwa Maurawa Bihar Bighapur Ajgain Sahrawan Bara Nigoha Sareni
0.024 0.003 0.019 0.001 0.039 0.002 0.029 0.001 0.023 0.001 0.043 0.001 0.048 0.001 0.052 0.001 0.020 0.001 0.024 0.003
7.14 0.01 7.21 0.01 7.71 0.02 7.72 0.01 7.18 0.21 7.28 0.22 7.56 0.08 7.50 0.15 6.90 0.17 6.99 0.32
436.000 12.36 315.667 0.003 427.667 0.001 144.000 0.001 459.667 0.001 404.000 0.001 284.333 0.001 657.667 0.003 589.000 0.001 389.000 0.001
148 0.001 184 0.001 400 0.001 190 0.001 254 0.001 120 0.001 280 0.001 180 0.001 200 0.001 390 0.001
49.720 0.001 47.317 0.001 47.617 0.001 45.420 0.002 54.477 0.001 52.167 0.001 49.560 0.001 49.863 0.002 49.913 0.003 42.517 0.003
0.008 0.000 0.009 0.000 0.015 0.001 0.014 0.001 0.012 0.001 0.015 0.003 0.013 0.002 0.010 0.001 0.009 0.000 0.006 0.001
0.030 0.001 0.040 0.001 0.015 0.002 0.018 0.003 0.021 0.003 0.019 0.002 0.065 0.003 0.226 0.002 0.008 0.001 0.200 0.003
The values are mean of six replicates SE.
ranged from 0.019 (Purwa) to 0.052 (Bara) M ohm cm1. These values of EC indicate the presence of higher dissolved salts in the water bodies (Gupta et al., 2008) which were further analyzed by estimating the total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. A substantial amount of dissolved ions (total dissolved solids; TDS) were present in most of the studied ponds and which ranged from 144 to 657.67 mg Ll. Highest concentration of TDS was observed in pond nearby Bara region i.e. 657.67 mg Ll, whereas lowest concentration of TDS was observed in Bihar region which was 144 mg Ll. Total suspended solids (TSS) ranged from 120 to 400 mg Ll which was highest in Maurava pond (400 mg L–l), whereas, it was lowest in the water samples collected from Ajgain i.e. 120 mg Ll. The nitrate content in water bodies ranged from 42.51 to 54.47 mg L1. The highest content of nitrate was observed in Bighapur which was 54.47 mg Ll. The low content of nitrate was observed in Sareni. It is well reported that industrial effluent directed into the river water, cause the river contamination which increases the concentration of inorganic and organic pollutants in the water bodies (Rukeh et al., 2006; Phiri et al., 2005). Nitrate was found higher than the recommended level for surface water bodies i.e. 10 mg Ll, (IS, 1993). Over application of fertilizers causes the nutrient to leach into the pond. Water in most of the samples was found to be alkaline in nature which is supposed to be the productive nature of water bodies. It may be attributed to, industrial waste water discharge, domestic sewage and runoff from farmed areas (Wu et al., 2008). Cadmium was found in the range of 0.006 (Sareni) to 0.015 mg mL1 (Maurawa and Ajgain) (Fig. 2), whereas Cu ranged from 0.008 (Nigoha) to 0.226 mg mL1 (Bara) (Fig. 3). The highest Cd contamination was found in the water of pond located at Maurawan whereas the amount of Cu was found highest at the site
Bara. The level of Cu was found in Sahrawan (0.065 mg mL1), Bara (0.226 mg mL1) and Sareni (0.20 mg mL1). Cadmium was detected above the maximum permissible limits (0.005 mg mL1 as per WHO, 1995) in all the studied ponds. T. natans has been found to have good phytoremediation potential of heavy metals by several workers (Rai and Sinha, 2001; Babu et al., 2011, 2013). Bioaccumulation of Cd and Cu were found in substantial amount in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natants. Cadmium was accumulated in the highest amount in the roots, shoots and fruits i.e. 2.656, 2.081 and 1.189 mg g1 dry weights respectively of the plants collected from Ajgain region. The highest concentration of Cu was found in the plant tissues of the region Bara i.e. 15.626, 12.3, 9.46 mg g1 dry weights in roots, shoots and fruits respectively. Both the metals were found to translocated in the fruits of T. natans which are edible, showed a risk to be contaminate the food chain and may also become hazardous for human health. The plants growing naturally in the contaminated environment could accumulate heavy metals to a higher degree in their body parts (Kumar et al., 2013; Pandey, 2013). Cadmium has been reported as a primarily toxicant to the kidney and other serious health problems like alterations in reticulocytes and thrombocyte counts in human at lower concentrations (Godt et al., 2006; Bernard, 2008). However, according to Revai et al. (1990) Indians, daily Cd intake ranges between 7.8 and 16.5 mg/person without any chronic illness. The surface water collected from various sites nearby the city was not found much suitable from the agricultural point of view because they contain a significant amount of nitrate, Cd and Cu with high value of total dissolved solids and suspended solids. T. natans cultivated in these ponds were found to have accumulated a significant amount of Cd and Cu in their roots, shoots and even in the fruits. There is a great risk of contamination the food chain and
Fig. 2. Bioaccumulation of Cd in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans cultivated in different sites. Data are mean of six replicates SE.
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Sweta et al. / Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
Fig. 3. Bioaccumulation of Cu in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans cultivated in different sites. Data are mean of six replicates SE.
may be of biomagnification, if this plant is cultivate in such contaminated water bodies for the fruit production rather than only phytoremediation. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the Head of the Department of Environmental Science and University Scientific Instrumentation Center (USIC), BBAU, for providing facilities for the analytical work. References APHA, 2005. Standard Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 21st ed. APHA, AWWA, WPCF, Washington, DC, USA. Babu, M., Dwivedi, D.H., Lata, R., 2011. Distribution of heavy metals in edible aquatic plant: water chestnut (Trapa natans var. bispinosa Roxb.). Int. J. Plant Sci. 6 (2), 270–273. Babu, M., Dwivedi, D.H., Ram, Y.R.B., Meena, M.L., 2013. Bioaccumulation and distribution of heavy metals in water chestnut (Trapa natans var. bispinosa Roxb.) in the Lucknow region. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 8 (22), 2765–2768. Bauddh, K., Singh, R.P., 2012a. Cadmium tolerance and its phytoremediation by two oil yielding plants Ricinus communis (L.) and Brassica juncea (L.) from the contaminated soil. Int. J. Phytoremed. 14, 772–785. Bauddh, K., Singh, R.P., 2012b. Growth, tolerance efficiency and phytoremediation potential of Ricinus communis (L.) and Brassica juncea (L.) in salinity and drought affected cadmium contaminated soil. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 85, 13–22. Bauddh, K., Singh, R.P., 2015. Studies on bio-accumulation and partitioning of Cd in Brassica juncea and Ricinus communis in presence of vermicompost, chemical fertilizers, biofertilizers and customized fertilizers. Ecol. Eng. 74, 93–100. Begum, A., Gallorini, M., Rizzio, E., Krzemin, S.M., 2009. Heavy metal pollution and chemical profile of Cauvery river water. E-J. Chem. 6 (1), 47–52. Bernard, A., 2008. Cadmium & its adverse effects on human health. Ind. J. Med. Res. 128, 557–564. Catalado, D.A., Haroon, M., Schvander, L.E., Young, L., 1975. Rapid colorimetric determination of nitrate in plant tissue by nitrification of salicylic acid. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 6, 71–80. Chowdhury, M., Mostafa, M.G., Biswas, T.K., Saha, A.K., 2013. Treatment of leather industrial effluent by filtration and coagulation processes. Water Res. Ind. 3, 11– 22. daSilva, M.N., Mucha, A.P., Rocha, A.C., Teixeira, C., Gomes, C.R., Almeida, C.M.R., 2014. A strategy to potentiate Cd phytoremediation by saltmarsh plants— Autochthonous bioaugmentation. J. Environ. Manage. 134, 136–144. Garg, R.K., Rao, R.J., Uchchariya, D., Shukla, G., Saksena, D.N., 2010. Seasonal variations in water quality and major threats to Ramsagar reservoir, India. Afr. Environ. Sci. Technol. 4 (2), 061–076. Gebrekidan, A., Weldegebriel, Y., Hadera, A., der Bruggen, B.V., 2013. Toxicological assessment of heavy metals accumulated in vegetables and fruits grown in Ginfel River near Sheba Tannery, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 95 (1), 171–178. Ghanbarpour, M.R., Goorzadi, M., Vahabzade, G., 2014. Spatial variability of heavy metals in surficial sediments: Tajan River Watershed, Iran. Sustain. Water Qual. Ecol. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.swaqe.2014.04.002.
Godt, J., Scheidig, F., Grosse-Siestrup, C., Esche, V., Brandenburg, P., Reich, A., Groneberg, D.A., 2006. The toxicity of cadmium and resulting hazards for human health. J. Occup. Med. Toxicol. 1 (22), 1–6. Gupta, S., Maheto, A., Roy, P., Datta, J.K., Saha, R.N., 2008. Geochemistry of groundwater Burdwan district, West Bengal India. Environ. Geol. 53, 1271– 1282. Indian Standard Specifications for drinking Water (1993). IS:10.500, New Delhi, India. Krishna, A.K., Satyanarayanan, M., Govil, P.K., 2009. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in water using multivariate statistical techniques in an industrial area: a case study from Patancheru, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India. J. Hazard. Mater. 167 (1–3), 366–373. Kumar, N., Bauddh, K., Kumar, S., Dwivedi, N., Singh, D.P., Barman, S.C., 2013. Heavy metal uptake by plants naturally grown on industrially contaminated soil and their phytoremediation potential. Ecol. Eng. 61, 491–495. Lauchlan, H.F., Spring, M.C., David, S., 2004. A test of four plantspecies to reduce total nitrogen and total phosphorus from soil leachate in subsurface wetland microcosms. Bioresour. Technol. 94, 185–192. Li, S., Xu, Z., Cheng, X., Zhang, Q., 2008. Dissolved trace elements and heavy metals in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, China. Environ. Geol. 55, 977–983. Pandey, V.C., 2013. Suitability of Ricinus communis L. cultivation for phytoremediation of fly ash disposal sites. Ecol. Eng. 57, 336–341. Pekey, H., Karaka, D., Bakoglu, M., 2004. Source apportionment of trace metals in surface waters of a polluted stream using multivariate statistical analyses. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 49, 809–818. Phiri, O., Mumba, P., Moyo, H.Z., Kadewa, W., 2005. Assessment of the impact of industrial effluents on water quality of receiving rivers in urban areas of Malawi. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2 (3), 237–244. Rai, U.N., Sinha, S., 2001. Distribution of metals in aquatic edible plants: Trapa natans (roxb.) makino and Ipomoea aquatica forsk. Environ. Monit. Assess. 70, 241– 252. Rawat, S.K., Singh, R.P., 2010. Seasonal variation of nitrate level in ground and surface water of Lucknow and its remediation using certain aquatic macrophytes. Int. J. Lakes Rivers 3, 25–36. Revai, T.F., Koyama, H., Suzuki, S., 1990. Cadmium content in rice and its daily intake in various countries. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 44, 910–916. Rukeh, A., Ikhhifa, O.G., Okokoyo, A.P., 2006. Effects of agricultural activities on the water quality of Orogodo River, Agbor Nigeria. J. Appl. Sci. Res. 2 (5), 256–259. Sainger, M., Sharma, A., Bauddh, K., Sainger, P.A., Singh, R.P., 2014. Remediation of nickel contamination from the sub-tropical soil of northern India using Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) and effect of the metal on growth nitrate assimilation, diamine metabolism and proline accumulation in the plant. Bioremed. J. 18, 100–110. Skinner, K., Wright, N., Porter-Goff, E., 2007. Mercury uptake and accumulation by four aquatic plants. Environ. Pollut. 145, 234–237. Sood, A., Uniyal, P.L., Prasanna, R., Ahluwalia, A.S., 2012. Phytoremediation potential of aquatic macrophyte, Azolla. AMBIO 41, 122–137. Suñe, N., Sa’nchez, G., Caffaratti, S., Maine, M.A., 2007. Cadmium and chromium removal kinetics from solution by two aquatic macrophytes. Environ. Pollut. 145, 467–473. Wu, Y.F., Liu, C.Q., Tu, C.L., 2008. Atmospheric deposition of metals in TSP of Guiyang, PR China. Bull. Environ. Contamin. Toxicol. 80 (5), 465–468. WHO, 1995. Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, vol. 3. WHO, Geneva.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Ecological Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng
Short communication
The suitability of Trapa natans for phytoremediation of inorganic contaminants from the aquatic ecosystems Swetaa , Kuldeep Bauddhb , Ragini Singha , Rana Pratap Singha,* a b
Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University), Lucknow, 226025 Uttar Pradesh, India Centre for Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, 835205 Ranchi, India
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history: Received 16 October 2014 Received in revised form 14 May 2015 Accepted 8 June 2015 Available online xxx
The discharges from industries contaminate ponds maintained by the villagers for various purposes including cultivation of Trapa natans (L.) which bears fruits during winter season. The fruits of T. natans are edible and sold in local markets on the large scale. In the present study, the plants of T. natans were collected from ten ponds located nearby industrial areas of Unnao District, U.P., India to assess cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) accumulation in different tissues including the fruits. It was found that Cd in water ranged from 0.006 mg L1 (Sareni) to 0.015 mg L1 (Maurawa and Ajgain). The highest concentration of Cu was found in Bara region (0.226 mg L1), whereas, it was lowest in Nigoha (0.008 mg L1). Both the metals were accumulated in significant amount in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans. Cadmium was accumulated highest in the roots, shoots and fruits i.e. 2.656, 2.081 and 1.189 mg g1 dry weights respectively of the plants, collected from Ajgain region. The highest concentration of Cu was found in the plant tissues of Bara region i.e. 15.626, 12.3, 9.46 mg g1 dry weights in roots, shoots and fruits respectively. It appeared that substantial amount of the metals was found to be accumulated in the roots and shoots, which depicts the metal accumulating ability of this plant. However, both Cd and Cu were translocated in the fruits of T. natans which are edible, and thus showed a risk to contaminate the food chain and may also become hazardous for the human health if the same plants are used for the consumption purposes. The results of this study indicate that T. natans is a suitable candidate for the phytoremediation of heavy metals from the aquatic ecosystem but the process requires a proper care and maintenance. ã2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Bioaccumulation Cadmium Copper Trapa natans Phytoremediation
1. Introduction Growing human population and economic development, attribute elevating nutrients, leading to the eutrophication and heavy metal pollution in the aquatic environment (Pekey et al., 2004; Li et al., 2008; Krishna et al., 2009; Gebrekidan et al., 2013; Ghanbarpour et al., 2014). The practices like urbanization, industrialization, mining etc. are the major causes for toxic metal contamination in the surface water bodies (Krishna et al., 2009; Chowdhury et al., 2013; Gebrekidan et al., 2013; Ghanbarpour et al., 2014). Albeit, several metals are essential for the growth and development of plants but in a trace amount only. Majority of heavy metals are potentially toxic for animals, plants as well as microorganisms. Phytoremediation is a natural and direct use of living green plants for the remediation of contaminated soil, sludge, sediments and water (Kumar et al., 2013; Sainger et al.,
* Corresponding author. Fax: +91 5222440821. E-mail address: [email protected] (R.P. Singh). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.06.003 0925-8574/ ã 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2014; Bauddh and Singh, 2015). The technology can be used to clean up excessive nutrients, toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, poly aromatic hydrocarbons and landfill leachates (Rawat and Singh, 2010; Bauddh and Singh, 2012a,b, 2015; Sood et al., 2012; Kumar et al., 2013; daSilva et al., 2014). The selection of appropriate plant species for this process is key component. Several studies have been conducted and report that Trapa natans has good phytoremediation potential for the removal of heavy metals and other inorganic pollutant (Lauchlan et al., 2004; Begum et al., 2009; Skinner et al., 2007; Suñe et al., 2007; Rawat and Singh, 2010). The fruits of T. natans are edible by human beings in many countries of the world thus, it is also essential to find out the bioaccumulation and translocation of heavy metals in edible parts of T. natans growing in the metal contaminated surface water bodies. The present study endeavor to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of water collected from 10 ponds. Further to study the bioaccumulation of Cd and Cu in the roots and their translocation to the shoots as well as edible part of the plant i.e. fruits have been analyzed.
40
Sweta et al. / Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
2. Material and methods 2.1. Description of the site The plants and water samples were collected from ten ponds viz. Asoha, Purwa, Maurawa, Bihar, Bighapur, Ajgain, Sahrawan, Bara, Nigoha and Sareni of Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India which lies between Latitude 26 80 N & 27 20 N and Longitude 80 30 E & 8130 E (Fig. 1). The experimental sites received numerous contaminants from industrial activities, surface runoff, and domestic sources. The sampling was done in the month of January (harvesting time of fruits of T. natans). Water and plant samples from each of the sites were collected from six different locations. The plants collected from the sites washed thoroughly with running water followed by distilled water. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples were determined by using pH-meter and conductivity-meter respectively. Nitrate content in the plant and water was estimated according to the Catalado method (Catalado et al., 1975). Other physicochemical parameters viz. total dissolved solids (TDS), and total suspended solids (TSS) were analyzed following the standard methods of APHA (2005). Cadmium and copper content in the shoots and fruits of T. natans were determined after digesting the oven dried powdered samples in perchloric acid–nitric acid mixture (1:3 v/v). All the digested samples were analyzed by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA 240 FS, Varian).
ðX YÞ Metal concentrationðmgg1 dwtÞ ¼ V W where X = reading in ppm for test sample, Y = reading in ppm for blank, V = final volume of digested samples (mL) and W = dry weight of the sample (g). For analysis of the metals in water, 90 mL of water sample was taken in conical flask having 10 mL of acid mixture of perchloric acid and nitric acid (1:5 v/v). The samples were digested till the solution became transparent. The solution was filtered through Whattman No. 1 filter paper in a volumetric flask. The concentration of Cd and Cu were estimated by using AA 240 FS, Varian, as mentioned above with. Metal concentrationðmgL1 Þ ¼
ðX YÞ V1 V2
where X = reading in ppm for test sample, Y = reading in ppm for blank, V1 = final volume of digested sample (mL) and V2 = volume of sample taken (mL). 3. Results and discussion The physicochemical characteristics of water samples collected from different ponds have been given in Table 1. The results revealed that pH was found in the range of slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (6.9–7.72). The highest pH i.e. 7.72 was found in the water collected from the site of Bihar region. According to Garg et al. (2010), pH range from 6.0 to 8.5 indicates productive nature of water body. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples
Fig. 1. Green circles marked in the map are study areas. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Sweta et al. / Ecological Engineering 83 (2015) 39–42
41
Table 1 Physicochemical characteristics of water collected from different pond. Sites
EC (M ohm cm1)
pH
TDS (mg L1)
TSS (mg L1)
Nitrate (mg L1)
Cd (mg L1)
Cu (mg L1)
Asoha Purwa Maurawa Bihar Bighapur Ajgain Sahrawan Bara Nigoha Sareni
0.024 0.003 0.019 0.001 0.039 0.002 0.029 0.001 0.023 0.001 0.043 0.001 0.048 0.001 0.052 0.001 0.020 0.001 0.024 0.003
7.14 0.01 7.21 0.01 7.71 0.02 7.72 0.01 7.18 0.21 7.28 0.22 7.56 0.08 7.50 0.15 6.90 0.17 6.99 0.32
436.000 12.36 315.667 0.003 427.667 0.001 144.000 0.001 459.667 0.001 404.000 0.001 284.333 0.001 657.667 0.003 589.000 0.001 389.000 0.001
148 0.001 184 0.001 400 0.001 190 0.001 254 0.001 120 0.001 280 0.001 180 0.001 200 0.001 390 0.001
49.720 0.001 47.317 0.001 47.617 0.001 45.420 0.002 54.477 0.001 52.167 0.001 49.560 0.001 49.863 0.002 49.913 0.003 42.517 0.003
0.008 0.000 0.009 0.000 0.015 0.001 0.014 0.001 0.012 0.001 0.015 0.003 0.013 0.002 0.010 0.001 0.009 0.000 0.006 0.001
0.030 0.001 0.040 0.001 0.015 0.002 0.018 0.003 0.021 0.003 0.019 0.002 0.065 0.003 0.226 0.002 0.008 0.001 0.200 0.003
The values are mean of six replicates SE.
ranged from 0.019 (Purwa) to 0.052 (Bara) M ohm cm1. These values of EC indicate the presence of higher dissolved salts in the water bodies (Gupta et al., 2008) which were further analyzed by estimating the total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. A substantial amount of dissolved ions (total dissolved solids; TDS) were present in most of the studied ponds and which ranged from 144 to 657.67 mg Ll. Highest concentration of TDS was observed in pond nearby Bara region i.e. 657.67 mg Ll, whereas lowest concentration of TDS was observed in Bihar region which was 144 mg Ll. Total suspended solids (TSS) ranged from 120 to 400 mg Ll which was highest in Maurava pond (400 mg L–l), whereas, it was lowest in the water samples collected from Ajgain i.e. 120 mg Ll. The nitrate content in water bodies ranged from 42.51 to 54.47 mg L1. The highest content of nitrate was observed in Bighapur which was 54.47 mg Ll. The low content of nitrate was observed in Sareni. It is well reported that industrial effluent directed into the river water, cause the river contamination which increases the concentration of inorganic and organic pollutants in the water bodies (Rukeh et al., 2006; Phiri et al., 2005). Nitrate was found higher than the recommended level for surface water bodies i.e. 10 mg Ll, (IS, 1993). Over application of fertilizers causes the nutrient to leach into the pond. Water in most of the samples was found to be alkaline in nature which is supposed to be the productive nature of water bodies. It may be attributed to, industrial waste water discharge, domestic sewage and runoff from farmed areas (Wu et al., 2008). Cadmium was found in the range of 0.006 (Sareni) to 0.015 mg mL1 (Maurawa and Ajgain) (Fig. 2), whereas Cu ranged from 0.008 (Nigoha) to 0.226 mg mL1 (Bara) (Fig. 3). The highest Cd contamination was found in the water of pond located at Maurawan whereas the amount of Cu was found highest at the site
Bara. The level of Cu was found in Sahrawan (0.065 mg mL1), Bara (0.226 mg mL1) and Sareni (0.20 mg mL1). Cadmium was detected above the maximum permissible limits (0.005 mg mL1 as per WHO, 1995) in all the studied ponds. T. natans has been found to have good phytoremediation potential of heavy metals by several workers (Rai and Sinha, 2001; Babu et al., 2011, 2013). Bioaccumulation of Cd and Cu were found in substantial amount in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natants. Cadmium was accumulated in the highest amount in the roots, shoots and fruits i.e. 2.656, 2.081 and 1.189 mg g1 dry weights respectively of the plants collected from Ajgain region. The highest concentration of Cu was found in the plant tissues of the region Bara i.e. 15.626, 12.3, 9.46 mg g1 dry weights in roots, shoots and fruits respectively. Both the metals were found to translocated in the fruits of T. natans which are edible, showed a risk to be contaminate the food chain and may also become hazardous for human health. The plants growing naturally in the contaminated environment could accumulate heavy metals to a higher degree in their body parts (Kumar et al., 2013; Pandey, 2013). Cadmium has been reported as a primarily toxicant to the kidney and other serious health problems like alterations in reticulocytes and thrombocyte counts in human at lower concentrations (Godt et al., 2006; Bernard, 2008). However, according to Revai et al. (1990) Indians, daily Cd intake ranges between 7.8 and 16.5 mg/person without any chronic illness. The surface water collected from various sites nearby the city was not found much suitable from the agricultural point of view because they contain a significant amount of nitrate, Cd and Cu with high value of total dissolved solids and suspended solids. T. natans cultivated in these ponds were found to have accumulated a significant amount of Cd and Cu in their roots, shoots and even in the fruits. There is a great risk of contamination the food chain and
Fig. 2. Bioaccumulation of Cd in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans cultivated in different sites. Data are mean of six replicates SE.
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Fig. 3. Bioaccumulation of Cu in the roots, shoots and fruits of T. natans cultivated in different sites. Data are mean of six replicates SE.
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