Abstract
Increasing mining and industrial discharge of untreated wastewater, as well as excessive use of fertilizers for agricultural purposes, and heavy metal contamination in soil have become one of the serious environmental problems worldwide. In the present study, pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of arsenic contamination and other factors on the growth and development of local forage grasses like Purple guinea and Ruzi grasses under controlled conditions. Influence of arsenic concentration, soil properties, and fertilizers on biosorption and withstanding potential of grasses was studied using model soil and real-time arsenic-contaminated mine soil. High arsenic contents in soil significantly affected the growth as well as biomass production of grasses and declined the overall biomass production concerning exposure durations. Purple guinea and Ruzi grasses showed growth tolerance in arsenic-contaminated soils with concentrations of 100 and 150 mg/kg respectively. Grass species, soil compositions, and properties, fertilizers, growth duration, etc. potentially influenced arsenic accumulation in grasses. Both local forage grasses showed <1 bio-accumulation factor (BAF) and bio-concentration factor (BCF) after 45 days that indicates the minimum harvesting time of 45 days, and biosorption rate was found significant to the exposure duration. Maximum translocation factor (TF) values observed in Purple guinea and Ruzi grasses were 0.65 and 0.95, respectively which are < 1, therefore, these local forage grasses could be labeled as arsenic-metallophytes and ability to tolerate high levels of heavy metals without much biosorption. The results confirmed that local forage grasses have much growth tolerance potential against arsenic in real-time mine soil with desired fertilizers and these species could be used for sustainable management of ecological health of the Thung Kum gold mine area in Thailand.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
All the data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
References
Aihemaiti, A., Jiang, J., Li, D., Liu, N., Yang, M., Meng, Y., & Zou, Q. (2018). The interactions of metal concentrations and soil properties on toxic metal accumulation of native plants in vanadium mining area. Journal of Environmental Management, 222(March), 216–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.05.081
Akopyan, K., Petrosyan, V., Grigoryan, R., & Melkom Melkomian, D. (2018). Assessment of residential soil contamination with arsenic and lead in mining and smelting towns of northern Armenia. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 184(October 2017), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.10.010
Araujo, M. A., Zinn, Y. L., & Lal, R. (2017). Soil parent material, texture and oxide contents have little effect on soil organic carbon retention in tropical highlands. Geoderma, 300(April), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.04.006
Cao, H., Xie, X., Wang, Y., Pi, K., Li, J., Zhan, H., & Liu, P. (2018). Predicting the risk of groundwater arsenic contamination in drinking water wells. Journal of Hydrology, 560, 318–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.007
Dastyar, W., Raheem, A., He, J., & Zhao, M. (2019). Biofuel production using thermochemical conversion of heavy metal-contaminated biomass (HMCB) harvested from phytoextraction process. Chemical Engineering Journal, 358, 759–785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.08.111
de Souza, T. D., Borges, A. C., de Matos, A. T., Veloso, R. W., & Braga, A. F. (2018). Kinetics of arsenic absorption by the species Eichhornia crassipes and Lemna valdiviana under optimized conditions. Chemosphere, 209, 866–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.06.132
Eze, V. C., & Harvey, A. P. (2018). Extractive recovery and valorisation of arsenic from contaminated soil through phytoremediation using Pteris cretica. Chemosphere, 208, 484–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.06.027
Kalita, J., Pradhan, A. K., Shandilya, Z. M., & Tanti, B. (2018). Arsenic stress responses and tolerance in rice: Physiological, cellular and molecular approaches. Rice Science, 25(5), 235–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsci.2018.06.007
Ko, C. H., Yu, F. C., Chang, F. C., Yang, B. Y., Chen, W. H., Hwang, W. S., & Tu, T. C. (2017). Bioethanol production from recovered napier grass with heavy metals. Journal of Environmental Management, 203, 1005–1010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.04.049
Kumar, S., Dubey, R. S., Tripathi, R. D., Chakrabarty, D., & Trivedi, P. K. (2015). Omics and biotechnology of arsenic stress and detoxification in plants: Current updates and prospective. Environment International, 74, 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2014.10.019
Liu, H., Xu, F., Xie, Y., Wang, C., Zhang, A., Li, L., & Xu, H. (2018). Effect of modified coconut shell biochar on availability of heavy metals and biochemical characteristics of soil in multiple heavy metals contaminated soil. Science of the Total Environment, 645, 702–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.115
Ma, J., Lei, E., Lei, M., Liu, Y., & Chen, T. (2018). Remediation of arsenic contaminated soil using malposed intercropping of Pteris vittata L. and maize. Chemosphere, 194, 737–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.11.135
Mehmood, T., Bibi, I., Shahid, M., Niazi, N. K., Murtaza, B., Wang, H., et al. (2017). Effect of compost addition on arsenic uptake, morphological and physiological attributes of maize plants grown in contrasting soils. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 178(March), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.03.018
Ojo, O. A., Ojo, A. B., Awoyinka, O., Ajiboye, B. O., Oyinloye, B. E., Osukoya, O. A., et al. (2018). Aqueous extract of Carica papaya Linn. roots potentially attenuates arsenic induced biochemical and genotoxic effects in Wistar rats. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 8(2), 324–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.08.001
Poonam, Srivastava, & S., Pathare, V., & Suprasanna, P. (2017). Physiological and molecular insights into rice-arbuscular mycorrhizal interactions under arsenic stress. Plant Gene, 11(March), 232–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plgene.2017.03.004
Seleiman, M. F., & Kheir, A. M. S. (2018). Maize productivity, heavy metals uptake and their availability in contaminated clay and sandy alkaline soils as affected by inorganic and organic amendments. Chemosphere, 204, 514–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.073
Shi, G. L., Zhu, S., Meng, J. R., Qian, M., Yang, N., Lou, L. Q., & Cai, Q. S. (2015). Variation in arsenic accumulation and translocation among wheat cultivars: The relationship between arsenic accumulation, efflux by wheat roots and arsenate tolerance of wheat seedlings. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 289, 190–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.02.045
Shi, T., Ma, J., Wu, X., Ju, T., Lin, X., Zhang, Y., et al. (2018). Inventories of heavy metal inputs and outputs to and from agricultural soils: A review. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 164(November 2017), 118–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.08.016
Singh, C. K., Kumar, A., & Bindal, S. (2018). Arsenic contamination in Rapti River Basin, Terai region of India. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 192(July 2017), 120–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2018.06.010
Singh, S., Sounderajan, S., Kumar, K., & Fulzele, D. P. (2017). Investigation of arsenic accumulation and biochemical response of in vitro developed Vetiveria zizanoides plants. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 145(July), 50–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.07.013
Tiankao, W., & Chotpantarat, S. (2018). Risk assessment of arsenic from contaminated soils to shallow groundwater in Ong Phra Sub-District, Suphan Buri Province. Thailand. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 19(March), 80–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.08.001
Vezza, M. E., Llanes, A., Travaglia, C., Agostini, E., & Talano, M. A. (2018). Arsenic stress effects on root water absorption in soybean plants: Physiological and morphological aspects. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 123(November 2017), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.11.020
Wang, J., Zeng, X., Zhang, H., Li, Y., Zhao, S., Su, S., et al. (2018). Effect of exogenous phosphate on the lability and phytoavailability of arsenic in soils. Chemosphere, 196, 540–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.12.191
White, P. J., & Brown, P. H. (2010). Plant nutrition for sustainable development and global health. Annals of Botany, 105(7), 1073–1080. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcq085
Wiangkham, N., & Prapagdee, B. (2018). Potential of Napier grass with cadmium-resistant bacterial inoculation on cadmium phytoremediation and its possibility to use as biomass fuel. Chemosphere, 201, 511–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.039
Xu, Y., Liang, X., Xu, Y., Qin, X., Huang, Q., Wang, L., & Sun, Y. (2017). Remediation of heavy metal-polluted agricultural soils using clay minerals: A review. Pedosphere, 27(2), 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(17)60310-2
Xue, S., Shi, L., Wu, C., Wu, H., Qin, Y., Pan, W., et al. (2017). Cadmium, lead, and arsenic contamination in paddy soils of a mining area and their exposure effects on human HEPG2 and keratinocyte cell-lines. Environmental Research, 156(March), 23–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.03.014
Yañez, L. M., Alfaro, J. A., & Bovi Mitre, G. (2018). Absorption of arsenic from soil and water by two chard (Beta vulgaris L.) varieties: A potential risk to human health. Journal of Environmental Management, 218, 23–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.04.048
Zeng, D., Zhou, S., Ren, B., & Chen, T. (2015). Bioaccumulation of antimony and arsenic in vegetables and health risk assessment in the superlarge antimony-mining area, China. Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/909724
Zhai, X., Li, Z., Huang, B., Luo, N., Huang, M., Zhang, Q., & Zeng, G. (2018). Remediation of multiple heavy metal-contaminated soil through the combination of soil washing and in situ immobilization. Science of the Total Environment, 635, 92–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.119
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Plant Science and Agriculture Resources, Faculty of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, KKU for using green house and equipment facilities, respectively.
Funding
The Biofilm Research Group and Graduate School, KKU financially supported this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval
Approval for wastewater sampling from hospitals was granted by the respective hospital superintendents. Moreover, the participants were informed and required to read and understand the information provided, the purpose for the survey, and their participation, the potential benefits and risks of the research, as well as voluntary participation consenting.
Consent for publication
All the authors are aware of Springer’s rules and regulation and hereby consent to the publication of the submitted article.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prommarach, T., Pholsen, S., Shivaraju, H.P. et al. Growth and biosorption of Purple guinea and Ruzi grasses in arsenic contaminated soils. Environ Monit Assess 194, 85 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09756-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09756-5