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Abstract
Keywords: Sorghum; Cadmium; Lead; Arsenic;
Wastewater; Absorption coefficient Heavy metals are a significant problem in municipal wastewater, in soil accumulation and are costly
to remove in order to facilitate water use in irrigation. Wastewater, with three heavy metal cations and an
anion, was employed in irrigation during the Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench growth period. Results show
that the absorption coefficient or bioaccumulation ability of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is relegated
to certain heavy metals and their concentrations, but not at all to plant tissues in dry ash weight (DAW)
scale. Heavy metals absorption was determined in the following order: cadmium = lead > arsenic, and
while tissue accumulation based on DAW was equal for cadmium and lead, based on dry weight (DW)
all three ions differed. The soil’s ability to accumulate heavy metal ranked as follows: cadmium > lead
> arsenic by wastewater quality in this experimvent. These results change many previous ideas about
decreasing the transportation of heavy metals from root to shoot or other organs in plants. With low
cadmium and lead concentration in irrigation, sorghum is a good plant for remediation; however, in high
concentration this plant benefits from arsenic remediation. Soil is a critical parameter for wastewater
phytoremediation. This topic merits further research.
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
001
Shafiei Darabi et al. (2016)
homogenized and used for analysis after cultivation. Soil analysis Table 2: Wastewater parameters. The analysis shows that pH and ionic
comprised base soil analysis under standard methods (Table 1). concentration are high.
No. Parameter Value Dimension
Wastewater treatment 1 pH 8.3
1500 l municipal wastewater was disinfected by activated oxygen, 2
Water hardness
832 ppm
and stored in a cool and dark condition during growth periods. (Caco3)
3 Ca 128 ppm
Different organic, salt and ionic parameters of wastewater were
4 CL 700 ppm
analyzed by standard methods (Table 2). 1 gr of cadmium chloride,
Total alkalinity
lead nitrate or sodium arsenate was added to 1 l distilled water. 1 5 323 ppm
(CaCo3)
ml of each stock was added to 100 ml of municipal wastewater and
6 Mg 122 ppm
produced the treatment, “10 mg”. 10 ml of this solution was added
7 SO4 670 ppm
to 100 ml value of wastewater and produced the treatment called,
8 NO3 5.7 ppm
“1 mg”. 10 ml of this solution was added to 100 ml with wastewater
9 NO2 0.06 ppm
to produce the treatment named, “0.1 mg”. Each treatment was
10 NH4 28 ppm
immediately used in irrigation.
11 PO4 2.2 ppm
Acidic digestion 12 EC 3930 µs/cm
13 Salts 2 %
Plants undergoing cadmium and lead treatment were collected
14 Na 520 ppm
and divided into root, stem, leaf and seed portions. The samples were
15 K 18 ppm
dried at 80 °C and heated in a furnace set at 550 oC for 5 h. 100 mg of
16 COD 55 ppm
the ash was mixed with 5 ml HCL 2 normal and heated in 80 0C for 2
17 BOD5 21.3 ppm
h after resting for one night. In the arsenic treatment, 100 mg of ash
18 Turb 4 NTU
was mixed with 2 ml of concentrated H2O2 and heated to 80 oC for 1
19 TDS 2080 mg/lit
h, then mixed with 3 ml concentrated HNO3 and rested one night.
20 Temperature 20 °C
Soil samples from each treatment were powdered after drying
and heated at 550 oC for 5 h. 1 gr of soil was mixed with 3 ml HCL 2 AC of irrigated soil, irrigated plant and plant in soil were
normal and 3 ml concentrated HNO3 then heated at 80 oC for 1 h and calculated. The AC of different heavy metals in plant was compared
rested one night. All samples were filtered and injected into an atomic per Eq. (2) (Table 6):
absorption set, Varian AA240 FLAME a model.
Equation 2:
Absorption coefficient plant heavy metal A content(ppm / DAW)
Absorption coefficient (AC) is a measure of the ability of plant or soil heavy metal A content(ppm / DW)
two ions AC comparison =
soil to accumulate heavy metals or ions, or to accumulate in a specific plant heavy metal B content(ppm / DAW)
site. This can be calculated by dividing the ion concentration of two soil heavy metal B content(ppm / DW)
samples, such as plant and soil. For example, the AC of plant on soil
was calculated by Eq. (1): Statistical analysis
Equation 1: SPSS 20 software (SAS Corp., Chicago, USA) was used in
plant heavy metal content(ppm / DAW) statistical analysis. Normal distributions of data, independence or
Absorption Coefficient ( AC ) = randomness, were tested by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (1-sample
soil heavy metal content(ppm / DW)
K-S), and the RUN TEST, respectively. Comparison of meaning in
different treatments was calculated by One-Way ANOVA and LSD
Table 1: Soil parameters.
as post hoc option. Multivariate analysis utilized the ANOVA test.
NO Parameter Value Dimension
1 Texture Loam
Results
2 Clay 19 % Plant heavy metal accumulation
3 Silt 30 % Three treatments of irrigation wastewater with 10, 1 and 0.1 ppm
4 Sand 51 % cadmium chloride with three repeats were used in the cadmium
5 Moisture (SP) 45 % treatment. Plant cadmium content increased with wastewater
Electrical cadmium concentration (Table 3). One-way variance analysis
6 13.6 ds/m
exchange (EC) (ANOVA) demonstrated that the difference of all groups was
7 pH 7.9 significance (P < 0.5).
Total neutralizing
8
value
21.5 % Lead remediation was analyzed by three concentrations of lead
Organic Carbon acetate in wastewater. No variation was observed among the three
9 1.3 %
(O.C.) groups of treatment based on ANOVA analysis. On the other hand,
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
002
Shafiei Darabi et al. (2016)
0.1 5±1 8.5 ± 0.5 4.8 ±2.2 75 ± 5 117 ±29 1.6 ± 1.3
* The difference of means between groups (10, 1, 0.1 and control) of this column is significant at the 0.05 level.
40 Absorption coefficient
20 The remediation of water and soil by soil and plant were calculated
0 by absorption coefficient parameter. Results showed that soil could
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
-20 remediate heavy metals of wastewater in low concentration. Plant
AC was very high for lead and cadmium based on irrigation (1136
and 750, respectively). Although plant can concentrate these toxic
Figure 1: Cadmium curve accumulation in soil. X axis is irrigation treatment ions from 2–18 times in its soil concentration based on DAW, these
and Y axis is the cadmium concentration in soil (ppm/ DW). ability is greater in low concentration. Consequently, the absorption
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
003
Shafiei Darabi et al. (2016)
Table 4: Tissues’ heavy metal content in DAW and DW. The increase in soil and plant cadmium content can be plotted in
Cadmium Lead Arsenic
a logarithmic curve from 0.1 to 10 ppm of treatment in wastewater
Tissues (data not shown), as reported by researchers [14]. The lead content
DAW DW * DAW DW * DAW * DW *
Root 241 ± 67 90 ± 34 195 ± 73 78 ± 29 31 ± 10 12 ± 4
of soil and plant did not increase and had poor correlation with
lead irrigation concentrations. Most concentration observed in 0.1
Stem 225 ± 65 4.7 ± 1 143 ± 49 2.5 ± 0.9 10 ± 2 0.16 ± .05
treatments was comparable with cadmium treatment. Moreover,
Leaf 240 ± 51 42 ± 2 274 ± 70 54 ± 14 17 ± 2 3.4 ± 0.4 when lead concentration changed 100 times in irrigation, soil content
Seed 250 ± 56 17 ± 3.4 170 ± 139 26 ± 20 14 ± 2.5 1 ± 0.2 changed 0.3 times (y = 0.868ln(x) + 10.5, R² = 0.941), and then
Average 239 ± 52 38 ± 37 195 ± 92 40 ± 33 18 ± 9 4±5
the plants’ concentration of lead in different treatment is the same
(P>0.05). Since lead is detectable in runoff despite cadmium (Table 6),
*Significant at 95%
it seems that as it exited the pots, and the results were not compatible
with many researchers’ reports that lead can concentrate in first level
Table 5: Runoff collected after cultivation at 10 ppm. of soil without being diffused to groundwater [15]. Similar to lead,
Soil soil arsenic is constant in different treatments and is detectable in
Treatment Runoff (ppm)
(ppm) runoff, although this runs opposite to other researchers’ reports; soil
Cadmium 123 ± 5 0.00* arsenic concentrations increase with changes to irrigation arsenic
Lead 8.5 ± 0.5 5.8 ± 0.76 content [16]. Since the solution properties or sensitivity of cadmium,
lead or arsenic differs in water or soil, such differences may relate to
Arsenic 4.8 ± 2 4 ± 2.6
many other parameters of soil or wastewater, such as sulfate and pH
*: not detectable (<0/1 ppm)
(Tables 1,2) [17]. This can result in the dissolution or precipitation
of these ions when added to wastewater; this can be observed in
coefficient of cadmium in low concentrations in soil is equal to that lead by examining the changes in the transparency and shininess of
of lead, and reduces with increases of soil concentration. At low wastewater. Then the dissolution of ions reduces ion interaction and
concentration, the ability of plant in arsenic wastewater remediation activity with soil particles and exits the soil by leaching.
is greater than in high concentration in irrigation, because the soil
This result demonstrates that the wastewater has the definite heavy
possesses high AC in low irrigation arsenic concentration.
metal capacity based on its chemical properties, and may be managed
This result shows AC displays variation based on heavy metal for agricultural purposes by limiting heavy metal concentration.
type and its concentration.
Tissue analysis of sorghum based on DAW showed that the
Discussion content of cadmium or lead is equal in all parts of plants and that ions
distribute normally in all tissues or organs. However, these results do
Wastewater is a new source of irritation, but carries pollutants
not appear based on DW as reported by previous researchers. Based
such as heavy metals that cannot be degraded in the environment.
on DW, the cadmium and lead are distributed in different tissues in
Phytoextraction is a biological method for cleanup of heavy metal this order: root > or = leaf > or = stem = seed.
polluted soils. This process is a feature of many plants, so that many
researchers have suggested that plants can accumulate rare heavy Since stem and seed in sorghum are the carbon storage organs
metals such as cadmium up to 0.01% DW as phytoremediator or [18], results show that the storage of heavy metals in sorghum is
hyper accumulator [9]. Numerous plants were identified as hyper related to ash or macro elements content, but not to carbohydrate or
accumulators but most of them are not used in agricultural or industrial tissue type. The different tissues had the same power in heavy metals
applications, or are harmful to health after cultivation in polluted soil transport or storage; previous reports in variations between organs
[10,11]. Since this method is both costly and produces polluted waste, may relate to consideration of storage molecules in the cell. These
the selection of plants is very important. In this research, we chose results change many previous ideas in decreasing the transportation
to work with sorghum, which can absorb various heavy metals and of cadmium from root to shoot or other organs [19-21], because most
of them calculate cadmium concentration based on DW, the carbon
has different usages in food or bioethanol production [12]. With this
storage of plant may reproduce any mistake in this process.
information, we know that the polluted plant after remediation can
be used in bioenergy. Previous research shows the distribution of arsenic in agricultural
plants such as onion, cauliflower, rice, brinjal and potato found in the
The ability of soil to accumulate heavy metals is very important
following order: roots > stem > leaves > seed or edible parts [22], but
in soil pollution remediation and plant heavy metal uptake. This
this order in sorghum is in fact root > leaf = seed = stem based on DW.
is related to soil properties and compounds [13]. In this research,
As previously mentioned, in cadmium and lead, stem of sorghum is
lead and arsenic soil content was constant when concentration
a carbohydrate or storage part of the plant. This result confirms that
of treatment increased in irrigation, but in cadmium the soil can
heavy metal accumulation does not result in any change in coloration
increase its heavy metal content parallel with treatment (Figure 1). with carbohydrate stored in its physiological state.
Subsequently, the heavy metal content of soil had significant variation
and is a parameter in plant heavy metal accumulation and its toxicity In sorghum, root accumulates more arsenic than other tissues,
(Table 3). based on DAW. This result has been reported by previous researchers
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
004
Shafiei Darabi et al. (2016)
Table 6: Absorption coefficient of soil, plant and heavy metals on irrigation treatment and other factors.
Plant / soil
Soil/ Irrigation Plant/Irrigation Plant/soil
Irrigation treatment Plant / soil
for other agricultural plants [23]. This refers to excess or different shows the similarity of cadmium and lead transporters, as reported
mechanisms of arsenic storage in root compared with other tissues by many previous researchers. This suggests that lead may uptake by
and other ions (cadmium and lead). These results show different root- nonselective cation channel related to very high potential membrane
shoot heavy metal pattern distribution between arsenic and cadmium [26], and low affinity protein transporters can mediate K+, Na+, Ca+,
or lead, although the main pattern among the four tissues in three lead and cadmium uptake [27].
ions is the same based on DW in the following order: root > or = leaf
Moreover, the descending saturation curve of cadmium AC or
> or = stem = seed, and is related to hydrocarbon storage.
plant/soil absorption in various irrigation differs from diffusion or a
Many researchers revealed that in many plants, such as Oryza non-energetic transportation curve (Figure 3). Therefore, cadmium
sativa, arsenic produces a thin plaque out of rhizoderm of root with needs a carrier or protein active site for transport across membranes,
Fe hydroxide as a cover [24]. This cover reduces arsenic absorption and accumulation in plant with high efficiency in low concentration.
by the root and increases local arsenic content of root (apoplastic
arsenic) compared with other tissue. Similarly, sorghum’s low ability Conclusion
to accumulate arsenic in the same soil concentration compared to This research demonstrates that with low pollution in municipal
lead and cadmium and the high content of root arsenic compared to wastewater, sorghum is a good plant for remediation and can absorb
other tissue in DAW may be related to this phenomenon. high levels of cadmium and lead, so that with no cultivation these
In soil with constant arsenic, the AC or plant/soil arsenic uptake ions can accumulate in toxic level in soil or leak deep into soil or
increases when arsenic in irrigation change that not observed in groundwater. However, the harvested plant can accumulate a high
cadmium or lead. However, this difference may relate to direct level of heavy metals, which then must be used as non- foods or
adsorption of arsenic from wastewater as a plaque on the surface of livestock such as bio energy.
root as mentioned by many researchers [24], before exchange with The variation of absorption coefficient of cadmium and lead and
soil or exiting rhizosphere will occur as runoff. their tissue accumulation patterns was differ from arsenic in sorghum
Bioaccumulation ability of heavy metals so that each heavy metal has a distinct behavior base on its properties.
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
005
Shafiei Darabi et al. (2016)
In high levels of pollution, soil accumulates high levels of cadmium iron oxide-amended contaminated soils as evaluated by short- and long-term
leaching tests.” Environ Pollut 131: 495-504.
and the toxicity of soil increases with less groundwater pollution
compared to lead and arsenic, as reported by many researchers 14. Mann SS, Rate AW, Gilkes RJ (2002) “Cadmium Accumulation in Agricultural
Soils in Western Australia.” Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 141: 16.
Acknowledgment 15. Behbahaninia A, Mirbagheri SA, Nouri J (2010) “Effects of sludge from
This work was supported by the Office of Graduate Studies, wastewater treatment plants on heavy metals transport to soils and
groundwater.” Iran. J. Environ. Health. Sci. Eng 7: 401-406.
University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. Special thanks are extended to
the Qom Provincial Directorate of Environmental Protection and the 16. Azad MAK, Monda AHMFK, Hossain I, Moniruzzaman M (2013) “Experiment
for Arsenic Accumulation into Rice Cultivated with Arsenic Enriched Irrigation
Municipality of Qom, Iran, for many set analyses. Water in Bangladesh.” American Journal of Environmental Protection 1: 54-
58.
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Copyright: © 2016 Shafiei Darabi SA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Shafiei Darabi SA, Almodares A , Ebrahimi M (2016) Phytoremediation Efficiency of Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench in Removing Cadmium, Lead
and Arsenic. Open J Environ Biol 1(1): 001-006.
006