The Relation between Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Concentration in Sewage Sludge and Its Uptake by Plants: Phragmites communis, Polygonum persicaria and Bidens tripartita
The aim of the study was to define the relationship between the concentration of PAHs in sewage sludge at a particular location and their amount in various plant materials growing on it. The credibility of the results is enhanced by the fact that sewage sludge from two separate sewage-treatment plants were selected for their influence on the content of PAHs in three plant species growing on them. The investigations were carried out for a period of three years. The results demonstrated unequivocally that the uptake of PAHs by a plant depended on polyaromatic hydrocarbon concentration in the sewage sludge. The correlation between accumulation coefficient of PAH in a plant and the content of the same PAH in the sewage sludge had for three-, four- and five-ring hydrocarbons an exponential character and for six-ring hydrocarbons was of a linear character. The accumulation coefficients calculated for three-ring aromatics were several times higher than for four-ring PAHs; further the coefficient values calculated for five-ring PAHs were several times lower than for four-ring hydrocarbons. Finally, the accumulation coefficient values of six-ring PAHs were the lowest in the series of studied polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland;Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Department of Soil Environment Sciences, Warsaw, Poland;Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
Recommended Citation:
Barbara Gworek,Katarzyna Klimczak,Marta Kijeńska. The Relation between Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Concentration in Sewage Sludge and Its Uptake by Plants: Phragmites communis, Polygonum persicaria and Bidens tripartita[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(10)