Pb heavy metal monitoring using biological indicators, Prosopis juliflora, Eucalyptus microtheca and Ziziphus spina-christi in Ahvaz city (Iran)

Abstract

Lead is one of the toxic and dangerous elements of the environment and has no biological role in the body of living organisms. Three plant species Prosopis juliflora, Eucalyptus microtheca and Ziziphus spina-christi were considered as investigated plants in Ahvaz city of Iran.The highest amount of lead in the unwashed leaf samples of Algaroba trees at the low traffic station was 72.56±0.01 mg kg-1. The lowest amount of lead in leaf samples related to washed leaves of Lotus trees in low traffic station was 60.13±0.25 mg kg-1. The pattern of lead accumulation in the washed and unwashed leaves of the studied trees in high traffic and low traffic areas was obtained as Algaroba>Eucalyptus>Lotusand in the vicinity of the gas station as Eucalyptus>Lotus>Algaroba. The highest and lowest concentrations of lead in the soil were obtained 40.4 mg kg-1 and 18.33 mg kg-1, respectively. The results of this study on the accumulation of lead in all species and stations showed that the accumulation of lead was more than the WHO limit of 2 mg kg-1. The BCF of the leaves of the Prosopis juliflora, Eucalyptus microtheca and Ziziphus spina-christi in Ahvaz city was higher than 1, so it can be concluded that these trees have the ability to accumulate lead in their leaves, and they can be classified as hyperaccumulator plants.

Keywords

• BCF
• Bio-accumulation
• Eucalyptus microtheca
• Pb
• Prosopis juliflora
• Ziziphus spina-christi