Using hyperaccumulator plants to phytoextract soil Ni and Cd.

Two strategies of phytoextraction have been shown to have promise for practical soil remediation: domestication of natural hyperaccumulators and bioengineering plants with the genes that allow natural hyperaccumulators to achieve useful phytoextraction. Because different elements have different value, some can be phytomined for profit and others can be phytoremediated at lower cost than soil removal and replacement. Ni phytoextraction from contaminated or mineralized soils offers economic return greater than producing most crops, especially when considering the low fertility or phytotoxicity of Ni rich soils. Only soils that require remediation based on risk assessment will comprise the market for phytoremediation. Improved risk assessment has indicated that most Zn + Cd contaminated soils will not require Cd phytoextraction because the Zn limits practical risk from soil Cd. But rice and tobacco, and foods grown on soils with Cd contamination without corresponding 100-fold greater Zn contamination, allow Cd to readily enter food plants and diets. Clear evidence of human renal tubular dysfunction from soil Cd has only been obtained for subsistence rice farm families in Asia. Because of historic metal mining and smelting, Zn + Cd contaminated rice soils have been found in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. Phytoextraction using southern France populations of Thlaspi caerulescens appears to be the only practical method to alleviate Cd risk without soil removal and replacement. The southern France plants accumulate 10-20-fold higher Cd in shoots than most T. caerulescens populations such as those from Belgium and the UK. Addition of fertilizers to maximize yield does not reduce Cd concentration in shoots; and soil management promotes annual Cd removal. The value of Cd in the plants is low, so the remediation service must pay the costs of Cd phytoextraction plus profits to the parties who conduct phytoextraction. Some other plants have been studied for Cd phytoextraction, but annual removals are much lower than the best T. caerulescens. Improved cultivars with higher yields and retaining this remarkable Cd phytoextraction potential are being bred using normal plant breeding techniques.

The effect of pH on metal accumulation in two Alyssum species.

Nickel phytoextraction using hyperaccumulator plants offers a potential for profit while decontaminating soils. Although soil pH is considered a key factor in metal uptake by crops, little is known about soil pH effects on metal uptake by hyperaccumulator plants. Two Ni and Co hyperaccumulators, Alyssum murale and A. corsicum, were grown in Quarry muck (Terric Haplohemist) and Welland (Typic Epiaquoll) soils contaminated by a Ni refinery in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, and in the serpentine Brockman soil (Typic Xerochrepts) from Oregon, USA. Soils were acidified and limed to cover pH from strongly acidic to mildly alkaline. Alyssum grown in both industrially contaminated soils exhibited increased Ni concentration in shoots as soil pH increased despite a decrease in water-soluble soil Ni, opposite to that seen with agricultural crop plants. A small decrease in Alyssum shoot Ni concentration as soil pH increased was observed in the serpentine soil. The highest fraction of total soil Ni was phytoextracted from Quarry muck (6.3%), followed by Welland (4.7%), and Brockman (0.84%). Maximum Ni phytoextraction was achieved at pH 7.3, 7.7, and 6.4 in the Quarry, Welland, and Brockman soils, respectively. Cobalt concentrations in shoots increased with soil pH increase in the Quarry muck, but decreased in the Welland soil. Plants extracted 1.71, 0.83, and 0.05% of the total soil Co from Welland, Quarry, and Brockman, respectively. The differences in uptake pattern of Ni and Co by Alyssum from different soils and pH were probably related to the differences in organic matter and iron contents of the soils.