TY - JOUR
T1 - HCH phytoremediation potential of native plant species from a contaminated urban site in Turda, Romania
AU - Helga, Balázs E.
AU - Schmid, Christoph A.O.
AU - Feher, Ioana
AU - Podar, Dorina
AU - Szatmari, Paul Marian
AU - Marincaş, Olivian
AU - Balázs, Zoltan R.
AU - Schröder, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Current physical or chemical methods used for remediation of soils contaminated with hexachlocyclohexane (HCH), leave behind significant levels of pollutants. Given the compound's volatility and persistence in the environment, sites contaminated with HCH remain a concern for the population living in nearby areas. By making use of both the recovery capacity and the pollutant uptake ability of spontaneously growing vegetation, our study aimed to identify native plant species able to cover and moreover take up the HCH left at a former lindane production unit in Turda, Romania. The results showed that dominant species across the study site like Lotus tenuis, Artemisia vulgaris or Tanacetum vulgare, were capable of taking up HCH in their tissues, according to different patterns that combined at the scale of the plant community. Regardless of the proximity of the HCH contamination hotspots, the development of the plant cover was characteristic for vegetation succession on disturbed soils of the Central European region. Finally, we conclude that plant species which grow spontaneously at the HCH contaminated site in Turda and are capable of taking up the pollutant, represent a self-sustainable and low maintenance phytomanagement approach that would allow for the reintegration of the site in the urban or industrial circuit and nevertheless would reduce the toxicity risk to the neighboring human inhabitants.
AB - Current physical or chemical methods used for remediation of soils contaminated with hexachlocyclohexane (HCH), leave behind significant levels of pollutants. Given the compound's volatility and persistence in the environment, sites contaminated with HCH remain a concern for the population living in nearby areas. By making use of both the recovery capacity and the pollutant uptake ability of spontaneously growing vegetation, our study aimed to identify native plant species able to cover and moreover take up the HCH left at a former lindane production unit in Turda, Romania. The results showed that dominant species across the study site like Lotus tenuis, Artemisia vulgaris or Tanacetum vulgare, were capable of taking up HCH in their tissues, according to different patterns that combined at the scale of the plant community. Regardless of the proximity of the HCH contamination hotspots, the development of the plant cover was characteristic for vegetation succession on disturbed soils of the Central European region. Finally, we conclude that plant species which grow spontaneously at the HCH contaminated site in Turda and are capable of taking up the pollutant, represent a self-sustainable and low maintenance phytomanagement approach that would allow for the reintegration of the site in the urban or industrial circuit and nevertheless would reduce the toxicity risk to the neighboring human inhabitants.
KW - Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH)
KW - Phytomanagement
KW - Phytoremediation
KW - Plant community
KW - Vegetation succession
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85048731783&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.018
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.018
M3 - Article
C2 - 29933144
AN - SCOPUS:85048731783
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 223
SP - 286
EP - 296
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
ER -