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Gunjan Sharma ¹, Jamshed Zaidi ¹, Amit Pal ¹

Affiliations
1 Institute of Environment and Development Studies Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, U.P-284 128, IN

Abstract

The Bundelkhand region - approximately an area of 70,000 square kilometers with 21 million people, comprising 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP) - is facing its worst ever drought spell in living memory . There are numbers of century old historical lakes in this region which are getting polluted day by day due to the growth of the small scale industrial corridor, nutrient loading and rapid anthropogenic activities. The increasing levels of metals in the aquatic ecosystem, their entry into food chain and the overall health effects are of major concern to researchers in the field of ecology. There are out of twelve existing plants in different water bodies, four aquatic macrophytes namely Eichorniacrassipes, Pistiastratiotes, Lemna minor and Vallisneriaspiralis  were selected for phytoremediation study on the basis of their abundance in selected study areas. Concentration of six trace metals have been estimated in above mentioned macrophytes i.e., Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Lead (Pb), and Zinc (Zn). From a phytoremediation perspective, E. crassipes and Pistiastratiotes are promising plant species for remediation of polluted water bodies of Bundelkhand region.

Keywords

Bundelkhand Region, Eichhornia, Pistia, Lemna, Vallisneria, Heavy Metals.

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Jamshed Zaidi ¹, A. H. Khan ², Amit Pal ³

Affiliations
1 Institute of Environment and Development Studies, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi – 284128, Uttar Pradesh, IN
2 CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow – 226001, Uttar Pradesh, India, IN
3 Institute of Environment and Development Studies, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi - 284128, Uttar Pradesh, India, IN

Abstract

The present study analyses the potential capacity of aquatic macrophytes to accumulate heavy metals from contaminated waters of three different aquatic bodies namely Mahil Talab, Sumera Talab and Kothi Talab (lake). Four different macrophytes taken for study due to their abundance, are named as Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.), Hydrilla verticillata (L. F.), Chara spp. (L.) and Lemna minor (L.) Samples for the analysis of heavy metals were collected from these ponds during the period of October 2015 to September 2016. Five heavy metals named as Fe, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb and Ni were analyzed in water, sediments and selected plant species which were abundant in water. The amount of metals and their accumulation status recorded in the studied macrophytes are arranged in the given sequence Fe>Pb>Cd>Cr>Cu>Ni. On the basis of metal concentration in different aquatic plants, water bodies and sediment, Pb and Cd was found to be target metal for the removal from the selected water bodies. The present experiments were carried out in the laboratory to analyze the Pb and Cd uptake capacity by above mentioned aquatic macrophytes. From the aspect of phytoremediation in present research, out of the four different macrophytes as above E. crassipes and Chara spp. may be considered as more affective for remediation of contaminated water bodies of Bundelkhand region especially for Pb and Cd removal.

Keywords

Aquatic Macrophytes, Bundelkhand Region, Heavy Metals, Toxicity.

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