Determination of Phytotreatment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Contaminated Soil | Chapter 10 | Current Advances in Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Vol. 4

The main goal of this study was to determine whether Chromolaena odorata stem cuttings could grow and thrive in soil that contained different concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners found in Aroclor 1254 and whether they could potentially decontaminate such soil in a greenhouse environment. A group of chemicals known as PCBs are created commercially by directly chlorinating biphenyls. Chromolaena odorata plants were replanted into soil with 100, 200, and 500 ppm Aroclor in 1-liter pots. The trials received daily waterings to a moisture field capacity of 70%. The number of completely formed leaves per plant, the length of the shoots, the chlorophyll content of the leaves, and the length of the roots were all measured during harvest. Although plants in the 500 ppm treatment only showed a decrease in growth after the sixth week, PCB was not phytotoxic to the growth of C. odorata. For the 100, 200, and 500 ppm treatments, the corresponding percentage increases in plant height were 45.9, 39.4, and 40.0. There were decreases in root length, leaf chlorophyll content, and leaf number. It was not statistically different from the treated samples that the control sample had a 48.3% increase in plant height, showing that C. odorata could survive such high PCB concentrations and be used to clean up polluted soil. The C. odorata plant absorbed 6.40 to 64.60 ppm of total PCBs on average per kilogramme of soil. resulted in PCB absorption rates per kilogramme of contaminated soil ranging from 0.03 to 17.03 percent. Plant root tissues were where PCBs were most often found, with bioaccumulation factors ranging from 0.006-0.38. PCB absorption by the plant increases as the chemical's concentration does. If these high BAF are maintained, C. odorata would be a promising candidate plant for phytoextraction of PCB from a PCB-contaminated soil.

Author(s) Details:

Raymond Oriebe Anyasi,

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida Campus, Rodepoort, South Africa.

Harrison Ifeanyichukwu Atagana,

Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (iNanoWS), University of South Africa, Florida Campus, Rodepoort, South Africa.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/CAGEES-V4/article/view/7475