Assessment of Some Wetland Plants for Heavy Metal Accumulation, and Their Feasibility in Phytoremediation Technology

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Soran University, Soran City, KRI

Abstract

The growth of industrialization and overpopulation has resulted in significant heavy metal contamination of freshwater resources and wastewater. In this study, we investigated the efficiency of three native macrophytes (Helosciadium nodiflorum, Phragmites australis and Typha domingensis) in remediating heavy metals: Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) in a constructed wastewater treatment plant. As a result, the potential of plants to accumulate metals was ordered as follows: H. nodiflorum > T. domingensis > P. australis. Iron (Fe) was the most accumulated metal in root and shoot parts, followed by Zn, Cr and As. The mean values ranged from 118-5944, 4.2-60.6, 0.3-6.7, and 0.22-2.99 mg/kg respectively, those concentrations were much higher than the threshold limits, excluding Zn. All estimated bioconcentration factors (BCF) were higher than 1, and the maximum BCF for As, Cr, Fe, and Zn were observed in the roots of H. nodiflorum plants, with values of 7.2, 48.5, 463, and 542, respectively. Thus, the three plants were signified as hyperaccumulators (BCF>1) to take up the selected metals from the sand. Their translocation factors (TF) were limited to below 1 (TF<1), which confirms the involvement of plants in the phytostabilization mechanism within root tissues and the rhizosphere. In conclusion, the three plants successfully contributed to heavy metal removal, and they are strongly recommended for use as promising biological agents in phytoremediation.

Keywords

Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries
Volume 29, Issue 5
September and October 2025
Pages 1753-1771

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