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A field study on phytoremediation of dredged sediment contaminated by heavy metals and nutrients: the impacts of sediment aeration

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 21, pages 13452–13460 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Compared to traditional chemical or physical treatments, phytoremediation has proved to be a cost-effective and environmentally sound alternative for remediation of contaminated dredged sediment. A field study was conducted in a sediment disposal site predominantly colonized by Typha angustifolia under different sediment moisture conditions to estimate the phytoremediation effects of dredged sediment. The moisture content was 37.30 % and 48.27 % in aerated and waterlogged sediment, respectively. Total nitrogen (TN) content was higher in the waterlogged sediment than in the aerated sediment. The total Cd contents were lower in aerated sediment, which was mainly resulted from the lower exchangeable fraction of Cd. The bioaccumulation of P, Cu and Pb in T. angustifolia was promoted by waterlogging, and the belowground tissue concentrations and accumulation factors (AFs) of Cu were higher than that of other metals, which can be explained by that Cu is an essential micronutrient for plants. Consistent with many previous studies, T. angustifolia showed higher metal levels in roots than in above-ground tissues at both the sediment conditions. Due to the improved biomass produced in the aerated sediment, the removals of nutrients and the metals by plant harvest were higher from aerated sediment than from waterlogged sediment. It was indicated that maintaining the dredged sediment aerated can avoid release risk and plant uptake of metals, while the opposite management option can promote phytoextraction of these contaminants.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation (51108334 and 51278355).

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Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Juan Wu, Lihua Yang & Shuiping Cheng

  2. Marine Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nantong, 226007, China

    Fei Zhong

Authors
  1. Juan Wu
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  2. Lihua Yang
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  3. Fei Zhong
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  4. Shuiping Cheng
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Correspondence to Shuiping Cheng.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Wu, J., Yang, L., Zhong, F. et al. A field study on phytoremediation of dredged sediment contaminated by heavy metals and nutrients: the impacts of sediment aeration. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 13452–13460 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3275-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3275-z

Keywords

  • Typha angustifolia
  • Dredged sediment
  • Phytoremediation
  • Sediment aeration
  • Heavy metal
  • Nutrient