Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• samaneh zolghadri ¹
• ali nabipourchakoli ²
• hamzeh hoseinpour ³
• hassan yousefnia ⁴
• Zahra Shiri-Yekta ⁵

¹ Radiation Application Research School, Nuclear science and technology Research Institute,

² Agricultural, Medical and Industrial Research School, Nuclear Science & Technology Research Institute,

³ Iran nuclear reactor fuel Company

⁴ Radiation Application Research School, Nuclear science and technology Research Institute

⁵ Nuclear Science and technology

Abstract

Today, phytoremediation is known as one of the economic and environmentally friendly methods to remove pollutants from the soil. In this research, the phytoremediation ability of Conyza canadensis (L) Cronq to remove uranium from salty soil has been investigated. The soil sample was collected from the nuclear area of Isfahan and the soil was contaminated with 100, 300 and 500 mg/kg of uranium. The seeds were grown in a suitable substrate and then transferred to the pots with contaminated soil. Then, the plants were grown in the greenhouse for one month and the amount of uranium accumulation in different parts of the plant was obtained by the ash method. By increasing the concentration of uranium in the soil, the accumulation of uranium in the plant also increased. The findings showed that the amount of uranium accumulation in the plant is related to the texture and electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil and has a direct relationship with EC. The highest amount of accumulation was observed in the stem of the plant and equal to 3633 mg/kg. The results showed that Conyza canadensis (L) Cronq has the ability to accumulate more than 1000 mg/kg of uranium in its different parts. Also, the transfer factor for different parts of the plant was more than one. As a result, Conyza canadensis (L) Cronq can be considered as a suitable plant for phytoremediation of salty soils.

Keywords

• Phytoremediation
• Conyza canadensis (L) Cronq
• Uranium
• Transfer factor

Main Subjects

• ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES