A small but important area on the Venice lagoon was used as a shooting range for more than thirty years. As a result of this activity, this sensitive salt marsh area is now dangerously contaminated by Pb, Cu, Sb and As. This extremely dynamic and complex ecosystem can promote the accumulation of metals and metalloids in both soil and sediment, and favours their conversion into more reactive compounds by physicochemical and biochemical transformations. Changes in redox and pH conditions can promote the mobility of these metals/metalloids, thus increasing their potential bioavailability. The characterization of contamination in this area pointed out a markedly variable Pb concentration (100-6700 mg Kg-1 dw), while Cu (about 60 mg Kg-1 dw) and metalloids (As and Sb < 20 mg Kg-1 dw) showed homogeneous distributions. As, Cu and Sb concentrations were below regulatory limits (they do not represent a serious risk), while Pb concentration was above the established limit. Geochemical speciation showed that a high percentage of total Pb content can be potentially mobilized and become thus phytoavailable in the particular conditions of this ecosystem. In the salt marsh the most abundant plant species are Limonium vulgaris, Salicornia, Spartina and Puccinellia). Preliminary analysis for Pb accumulation showed that all these plants have a low translocation factor (TF); nonetheless Limonium and Salicornia showed a bioaccumulation factor (BAF) in the roots greater than one. These results point out the possibility of using natural chelating agents to improve uptake and translocation efficiency of Pb in these plants
Halophytes for Phytoremediation of Lead in a Salt Marsh in the Venice Lagoon
MINELLO, FABIOLA;BETTIOL, Cinzia;GOBBO, Lorena;ARGESE, Emanuele
2009-01-01
Abstract
A small but important area on the Venice lagoon was used as a shooting range for more than thirty years. As a result of this activity, this sensitive salt marsh area is now dangerously contaminated by Pb, Cu, Sb and As. This extremely dynamic and complex ecosystem can promote the accumulation of metals and metalloids in both soil and sediment, and favours their conversion into more reactive compounds by physicochemical and biochemical transformations. Changes in redox and pH conditions can promote the mobility of these metals/metalloids, thus increasing their potential bioavailability. The characterization of contamination in this area pointed out a markedly variable Pb concentration (100-6700 mg Kg-1 dw), while Cu (about 60 mg Kg-1 dw) and metalloids (As and Sb < 20 mg Kg-1 dw) showed homogeneous distributions. As, Cu and Sb concentrations were below regulatory limits (they do not represent a serious risk), while Pb concentration was above the established limit. Geochemical speciation showed that a high percentage of total Pb content can be potentially mobilized and become thus phytoavailable in the particular conditions of this ecosystem. In the salt marsh the most abundant plant species are Limonium vulgaris, Salicornia, Spartina and Puccinellia). Preliminary analysis for Pb accumulation showed that all these plants have a low translocation factor (TF); nonetheless Limonium and Salicornia showed a bioaccumulation factor (BAF) in the roots greater than one. These results point out the possibility of using natural chelating agents to improve uptake and translocation efficiency of Pb in these plantsFile | Dimensione | Formato | |
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abstract convegno Turchia 2009 - Pb.pdf
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