Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

IDENTIFICATION OF HEAVY METAL CUMULATING PLANTS AND THEIR USE IN RECLAMATION OF SOIL CONTAMINATED WITH HEAVY METALS

P. Nivethitha, P. Thangavel, SPM. Prince, W. and V. Subburam

Abstract

The areas around foundries to Coimbatore were surveyed for the heavy metal tolerant plant species.Ten species of plants were more prevalent near foundries. Rhizosphere soil samples and plants were collected to assess their accumulation of heavy metals.All the plants have accumulated Cu, Cd, Ni and Cr several folds higher than their available (DTPA extractable) level in the soil. Among the plants Lycopersicon esculentum showed higher accumulation of heavy metals, The rest, except Prosopis juliflora, being medicinal plants. P. juliflora was recommended for using the decontamination of heavy metal contaminated soils in view of its ability to accumulate heavy metals and its ability to establish and proliferate in heavy metal contaminated soils with long roots covering larger areas.