Title: Pteris multifida Poir., a new arsenic hyperaccumulator: characteristics and potential

Authors: Weibing Du, Zhi'an Li, Bi Zou, Shaolin Peng

Addresses: South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, PR China. ' South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, PR China. ' South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, PR China. ' South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Le Yi Ju 510650, PR China; and Zhong Shan University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China

Abstract: This paper reports a new arsenic hyperaccumulator, Pteris multifida Poir, a fern that grows widely in the southeast of China. The results show that the average arsenic content in the fronds was 1144.78 mg/kg, with a highest value of 2061 mg/kg. The average arsenic content in the roots was 692.7 mg/kg, and the average bioconcentration factor was 1.2, with a highest value of 1.78. The average translocation factor was 1.77, with a highest value of 3.13. The arsenic content in fronds was significantly correlated with the pH and the phosphorus available in the soil, but less correlated with the arsenic concentration in the soil. P.multifida Poir might accumulate the maximum arsenic in fronds when the soil-available phosphorus was 55 mg/kg and the soil pH was 8.34.

Keywords: arsenic hyperaccumulator; phytoremediation; Pteris multifida Poir; ferns; China; fronds; carcinogenic elements; health hazards; soil contamination; environmental pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2005.007601

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2005 Vol.23 No.4, pp.388 - 396

Published online: 19 Aug 2005 *

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