Accumulation of copper and other heavy metals by plants growing on Sarcheshmeh copper mining area, Iran

作者：Ghaderian S Majid^*; Ravandi Ali A Ghotbi

来源：Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 2012, 123: 25-32.

DOI：10.1016/j.gexplo.2012.06.022

• Hyperaccumulator plants
• Heavy metals
• Copper phytoremediation
• Sarcheshmeh copper mine
• Iran

The Sarcheshmeh copper mining area located in Southeast of Iran is a vast mountainous region with mineralized soils and several active copper mining and smelting sites. In this study plants and soils from 4 different sites in this area were collected and analyzed for heavy metals. Analyses of soils in different sites showed the Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni concentrations are up to 1300, 1500, 700 and 35 mu g g(-1) for total metals and 11, 8, 1.5 and 0.5 mu g g(-1) for their exchangeable fractions, respectively. Plants collected from these sites belonged to 146 species from 118 genera and 40 families. Most of these plants are also found in non-metalliferous regions in the area. The concentrations of these metals in leaf dry matter were variable, ranging from 1 to 4012 mu g g(-1) for Cu, 2-1074 mu g g(-1) for Zn, 1-76 mu g g(-1) for Pb and 0.1-22 mu g g(-1), for Ni. The highest concentrations of Cu were found in Polypogon fugax (4012 mu g g(-1)), Epilobium hirsutum (1581 mu g g(-1)) and Onosma stenosiphon (657 mu g g(-1)). P. fugax and E. hirsutum are considered as provisional hyperaccumulators of copper and therefore may be suitable candidate species for phytoremediation to clean-up soils from copper contamination.

• 出版日期2012-12