Phytoremediation of Lead-Contaminated Water Using Ceratophyllum demersum, Hydrilla verticillata, and Lemna minor and In Vitro Assessment of Cytogenetic Effects

الملخص

    Lead (Pb) is a continual toxic contaminant in waters and is capable of damaging genetic material. Here, we assessed the removal of Pb from contaminated water using individual and mixed-plant treatments of three aquatic macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum, Hydrilla verticillata, and Lemna minor) and examined the cytogenetic response of blood cells exposed in vitro to treated water in a micronucleus assay. Water with a nominal Pb concentration of 50 mg/L was treated for 21 days and removal efficiency was evaluated weekly. Among the treatments with single-species, C. demersum had a final removal efficiency of 100% after wk 3 (Fig. The values reached by L. minor and H. verticillata were 92 and 90%, respectively. Mixed-plant had the most robust and highest performance in description, reaching 100% removal in week 2 and maintaining it through week 3. This improved performance is thus understood as partitive mixed-species effects rather than evidence for synergism. Pb removal was inversely associated with decreases in micronucleus counts, with the association shown by Pearson correlation analysis of the six provided paired observations being r = −0.832, p = 0.040. Thus, these results suggest that aquatic macrophytes can be used for Pb removal on a budget and that micronucleus may serve well for biological assessment of treated water. Nevertheless, Pb quantification and >2 quantifications of all micronucleus assays must be reported fully to allow all aspects of the experiment to be replicated or inference between the data generating methods.