Abstract

MEZA PEREZ, Marelis et al. Bioabsorption of Pb (II) AND Cr (III) using the aquatic plant Pistia stratioides. Rev. Fac. Ing. UCV [online]. 2013, vol.28, n.3, pp.19-27. ISSN 0798-4065.

The industrial effluents, particularly in mining and oil industries, contain a variety of substances that can cause an impact to the environment. Metals are among these contaminants. In this work the ability of the aquatic plant P. stratioides for bioabsorber Pb (II) and Cr (III), at laboratory scale, was evaluated. To this end, microcosms at semi-continuous flow formed at glass basins (20 L of total volume) and synthetic effluent contaminated with Pb (II) (1 and 5 mg/L) Cr (III) (4 and 6 mg/L) and a mixture of Pb (II) (5 mg/L) and Cr (III) (4 mg/L), were prepared. Effluent samples were taken every 24 h to assess pH, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, temperature and concentration of metals. The results show a decrease in the concentrations of the metals as a function of time. The total removal was 76.8 and 81.3% for Pb (II); 81.1 and 69.9% for Cr (III) for the individual tests respectively, and 73.4% Pb (II) and 77.9% Cr (III) for the mixture. The greatest absorption of metals was obtained in the early days of test, mainly accumulated in the plant roots. P. stratioides is a viable alternative for treatment of metal-contaminated effluents, using wetland systems.

Keywords : Bioabsorption; Industrial effluents; Phytoremediation; Heavy metals; Pistia stratioides.

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