Phytoextraction of heavy metals from municipal sewage sludge by Rosa multiflora and Sida hermaphrodita

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the multiflora rose var. “Jatar” (Rosa multiflora Thunb. ex Murray) and the Virginia fanpetals (Sida hermaphrodita Rusby) to phytoextract heavy metals from municipal sewage sludge. The 6-year field experiment involved four levels of fertilization with sewage sludge at doses of 0, 10, 20, 40, and 60 Mg DM (Dry Mass) sludge ha⁻¹. The increasing doses of sewage sludge were found to significantly increase the yield of multiflora rose and Virginia fanpetals biomass. They also significantly increased the content of heavy metals in these plants. The highest uptake of heavy metals by the multiflora rose and Virginia fanpetals crops was recorded at the fertilization dose of 60 Mg DM ⋅ ha⁻¹. Our investigations show that the Virginia fanpetals was more efficient in the phytoextraction of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd from the sewage sludge than the multiflora rose, due to the greater yields and higher heavy metal uptake by the former plant. In turn, the multiflora rose phytoextracted greater amounts of Pb from the sewage sludge. The analyses indicate that the Virginia fanpetals can be used for phytoremediation (phytoextraction) of heavy metals contained in sewage sludge.

KEYWORDS:

• multiflora rose
• Virginia fanpetals
• heavy metals
• phytoremediation
• municipal sewage sludge

Funding

This study was performed partially with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland (grant No. NN310080336), and the research results carried out within the subject No. 3101 were financed from the subsidy for science granted by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.