A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of elemental sulfur, gypsum and chelating agent (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) on copper, zinc, nickel, cadmium, chromium and lead uptake by Brassica juncea from sewage sludge. Addition of sulphur acidified the sludge, which caused the pH decrease to 5.4 with an initial pH 6.7. The shoot and root biomass were increased with sulfur addition, while decreased with Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid addition. Applications of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and sulfur resulted in a considerable increase in copper and lead concentrations in the plant. The highest root concentration of copper obtained to be 110 mg/kg dw at Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid treatment. For sulfur treatment, lead concentrations in shoots indicated almost high concentrations 77 mg/kg, about twofold increases relative to roots (34 mg/kg). The Transportation Index of all studied metals were quite low (TI \ 0.5), whereas the Bioaccumulation Factor values were much higher, varied from 0.01 to 9.67. Furthermore, the plant showed better Bioaccumulation Factor for copper and lead metals in both shoot and root. The efficiency to remove copper and lead from sludge is high in this plant. As a result, elemental sulfur will be effective amendment for phytoextraction of heavy metals from sewage sludge.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.