Determination of the accumulator plants in Kucukcekmece Lake (Istanbul)

Abstract

Soils are polluted by actions like using commercial fertilizers, pesticides, soil regulators and hormones to increase the amount and quality of agricultural production, discharge of soil and liquid wastes, performing wastewater sludge applications, using polluted waters in agricultural irrigation, atmospheric precipitations and radioactive sprays. It is an important environmental problem to reform and clean the soils polluted with heavy metals. Phytoremediation is a measure which uses several plants to remove the pollutants from water and soil to reduce, completely extract, control or immobilize them. The plants used for this reason are referred to as the accumulators. Metal accumulation can occur in several different families like small annual grass to perennial bushes and trees. For remediation or cleaning of the soils polluted with heavy metals, the ideal plant species are the ones which can produce high amounts of biomass, and can accumulate and tolerate the pollutants. In this study, the Cd and Zn contents obtained from Kucukcekmece Lake border were monitored on monthly basis and it was aimed at determining the plant species with accumulation ability. The plants chosen for this activity were Labiatae galatica, Compositae cardueae, Cypereace carex, and Phragmites australis. Compositae cardueae was the most efficient species in terms of mean heavy metal intake performance.

Key words: Heavy metals, accumulators, phytoremediation, soil pollution, Cd, Zn.