Accumulation Trends of Heavy Metals in Cupressus sempervirens and Eucalyptus camaldulensis Trees Grown in Treated Wastewater Irrigated Soil

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Soils, Water and Environ. Research Institute (SWERI), Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Giza- Egypt

2 Forest Department, Horticulture Research Institute,Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Giza- Egypt

3 Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University (the New Valley Branch), New Valley- Egypt

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate the accumulation trends of heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Co and Ni) in Cupressus Sempervirens and Eucalyptus Camaldulensis trees grown in treated wastewater irrigated soils. To achieve this goal; water, soil and plant samples were collected from a desert forest plantation in Sadat City, Egypt. The obtained results showed that the levels of heavy metals didn’t exceed the maximum permissible limits for soil and water. The contents of heavy metals in the organs of trees species grown in treated wastewater irrigated soil were significantly higher than those of the groundwater irrigated one. The highest translocation factor was recorded for root-branches of Cupressus S. irrigated with treated wastewater with average value of 4.6. However, Pb showed the lowest translocation factor ranging from 0.02 in the leaves-roots of Cupressus S. to 0.8 in the leaves-roots of Eucalyptus C.  irrigated with treated wastewater. It can be suggested that the studied tree species can be used for phytoremediation, and also continuous monitoring of heavy metals status in the soil irrigated with treated wastewater is necessary to ensure its safe use.

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