Jiraporn Yongpisanphop. Accumulation and toxicity of lead and chromium in Hydrocotyle umbellata L. . Master's Degree(Environmental Biology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
Accumulation and toxicity of lead and chromium in Hydrocotyle umbellata L.
การสะสมและความเป็นพิษของตะกั่วและโครเมียมในต้นแว่นแก้ว Hydrocotyle umbellata L.
Abstract:
The aquatic plant, Hydrocotyle umbellata, was studied for its accumulation and
toxicity of lead and chromium in a synthetic solution. Plants were cultured in modified
Hoagland’s nutrient solutions supplemented with 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg Pb/L as lead
nitrate Pb(NO3)2 and other with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg Cr/L as potassium dichromate
K2Cr2O7. They were separately harvested after 3, 6, 9, and 12 days. Lead and chromium
led to a significant decrease (P≤0.05) in the relative growth, biomass productivity, and
chlorophyll contents of H. umbellata when the exposure time and heavy metal
concentration were increased. However, they did not significantly decrease on day 3. The
EC50 of chromium was lower than that of lead during the same exposure time, suggesting
that chromium was comparatively more toxic than lead. The accumulation of the above
heavy metals in the plants significantly increased (P≤0.05), but it was not linear with
exposure time and heavy metal concentration. Both lead and chromium were accumulated
higher in the roots than in the shoots. The average accumulation of lead and chromium in
the roots decreased sharply during the first 6 days of the experiment. The bioconcentration
factor (BCF) of lead was higher than that of chromium at the same exposure time,
indicative of a higher accumulation potential of lead than of chromium in H. umbellata.
The toxicity symptoms of H. umbellata exposed to heavy metals at different
concentrations and exposure times showed that there had been a reduction in the
production of new plantlets, a withering of petioles, and the color of the roots had
changed from light green to dark brown. Lead caused leaf chlorosis, whereas chromium
caused leaf necrosis. The toxicity symptoms increased when exposure time and heavy
metals concentration were increased.