Phytoremediation of ¹³⁷Cs contaminated sod-podzolic soil in Northern Polissia white sweet clover (Melilotus albus)

ABSTRACT

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on 26 April 1986 contaminated tracts of Europe with radionuclides. In Ukraine, two million hectares with radiation levels greater than 5.55 × 10¹¹ Bq/km² were removed from agriculture and ¹³⁷Cs, with a half-life of 30 years, is still with us. Phytoremediation by vegetation that accumulates toxic elements has been widely applied. White sweet clover (Melilotus albus) accumulates caesium and heavy metals in its biomass but, at the same time, produces nectar and pollen of a safely low level of ¹³⁷Cs; so this culture is safe for beekeeping in the Chernobyl contamination zone. Growing M. albus over two years (2021–2) on a sandy sod podzolic soil within the Zhytomyr region increased the soil’s easily-hydrolysable N by 29.9%, decreased mobile phosphorus by 18.2%, and mobile forms of Cd by 38.5%, Hg by 25%, Pb by 24.5%, Cu by 18.5%, Zn by 14.9%, ¹³⁷Cs by 8%.

KEYWORDS:

• Phytoremediation
• soil
• heavy metals
• radioactive caesium

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).