Mahshid Souri; Mina Bayat; Saedeh Nateghi
Abstract
Increasing expansion of the industry and mining activities has caused an increase in environmental pollution, and these pollutions through water, air, as well as through the entry of sewage and waste into the soil, have irreparable effects and consequences on natural ecosystems. This research was conducted ...
Read More
Increasing expansion of the industry and mining activities has caused an increase in environmental pollution, and these pollutions through water, air, as well as through the entry of sewage and waste into the soil, have irreparable effects and consequences on natural ecosystems. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the phytoremediation potential of the rangeland species Artemisia sieberi, Salsola richteri and Scariola orientalis, as well as investigating the concentration of heavy metals (zinc, nickel and arsenic) in the soil of Sangan iron mine in Khorasan Razavi province. First, based on the initial investigation of vegetation distribution along the ecological gradient of the region, the dominant plant types were determined. Then, samples were taken from different parts of the dominant plant species of Khaf area and the soil around their roots at different distances from the mine in the direction of the prevailing wind of the area. Oxidation method and inductively coupled plasma device were used to measure the amount of metal pollution in the collected samples. Then, in order to evaluate and check the ability of the selected plants in cleaning the environment from different metals, several different indicators of plant remediation were investigated.The results showed that the high concentration of elements such as nickel (29 mg/kg) and arsenic (10 mg/kg) is significant compared to the global average of nickel 18 mg/kg and arsenic 4.7 mg/kg. Based on the results of bioconcentration indicators and considering the high abundance of native species Salsola richteri compared to the other two investigated species, this species can be used to phytoremidiation of heavy metals zinc, nickel and arsenic in Sangan mines
