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Sunflower (Helianthus annuus): phytoextraction capacity for heavy metals on a mining-influenced area in Thuringia, Germany

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Abstract

On an uranium-mining-influenced area, sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) were grown on a small-scaled plot. Subsamples of sunflowers were harvested 34, 66, 96, 108, 140, and 170 days after sowing. Contents of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Th, U, Zn, and rare earth elements (REEs, La–Lu) were determined in the sunflower shoots, as well as total and bioavailable contents of these 25 elements in the soil taken on the day of sowing and after the last harvest. Shoot contents alone were not sufficient to evaluate the extraction capacity of the sunflowers. Instead total extracted masses (product of biomass and element content) had to be calculated. The total extracted mass increased for most of the elements until 140 days after sowing. Bioconcentration factors (BCFs) as ratio between element content in shoot and soil, were calculated for this time to evaluate the phytoextraction efficiency. BCFs ≥1 (relating total soil contents) and thus a very effective extraction was calculated for Cd. The BCFs, based on mobile soil contents, were ≥1 for all elements, except for U and REEs (La–Lu). Consequently, the sunflower is able to extract many elements effectively from the direct harmful soil fraction. To reduce the contents of Cd and Ni down to levels, where the mining-influenced area could be classified as arable land would require 55 and 207 sunflower growth cycles. Although this is quite a long time, the uranium-mining-influenced area could be successively remediated, while growing biofuel crops, without interfering with food production.

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Acknowledgments

This work was kindly supported by Helmholtz Impulse and Networking Fund through Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Environmental Research (HIGRADE) (Bissinger and Kolditz 2008). Digestions of soil and plant samples were carried out by Gerit Weinzierl, Ines Kamp, and Ulrike Buhler. Sequential soil extraction was carried out by Ulrike Buhler. Measurement with ICP-MS and ICP-OES were carried out by Dirk Merten and Ines Kamp, respectively. Our special thanks are adressed to the reviewers, who helped to improve the current article by their remarks, questions, and advices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geosciences, Applied Geology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749, Jena, Germany

    Anika Kötschau, Georg Büchel & Dirk Merten

  2. Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Analysis, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Lessingstraße 8, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Jürgen W. Einax

  3. Water Analytics and Chemometrics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ, Brückstraße 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    Wolf von Tümpling

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  1. Anika Kötschau
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  2. Georg Büchel
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  5. Dirk Merten
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Correspondence to Anika Kötschau.

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Kötschau, A., Büchel, G., Einax, J.W. et al. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus): phytoextraction capacity for heavy metals on a mining-influenced area in Thuringia, Germany. Environ Earth Sci 72, 2023–2031 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3111-2

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