Biogeochemical cycles of bromine (Br) and its quantitative requirements for different plant species are still studied poorly. There is a need to examine Br pathways in plants and evaluate the factors important for Br accumulation in a plant. In the present work, the effects of different Br compounds on an uptake of Br by two plant species (wheat and pea) that tolerate Br differently (pea is more sensitive to Br compared with wheat) have been studied. The growth medium was spiked with either KBr or NaBr at concentrations 0, 10, 50 and 100 mg/L. Elemental analysis of the plants was performed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ICP-MS analytical techniques after leaching of the samples with tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide at mild temperature (60 °C). The experimental results have shown that wheat and pea seedlings can accumulate rather large amounts of Br. An increase of Br concentration in a plant was not always directly proportional to the variations in the Br concentration in the growth medium. In wheat, the greater part of Br was accumulated during first 7 days. In pea, the uptake of Br lasted until the end of the experiment. Certain differences in the ability of plants to accumulate Br were observed when the plants were grown in a medium spiked with different Br compounds. In most cases, Br accumulation was higher in the leaves of the plants grown in the medium spiked with KBr. The same tendency was observed for another halogen, chlorine (Cl).

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The purposes of the research were (1) to estimate the ability of wheat Triticum aestivum L. to uptake antimony (Sb) from contaminated soil and water, (2) to study effects of Sb bioaccumulation on the plant development and distribution of macro-and trace elements in the plants, and (3) to compare uptake of Sb and some other elements by wheat seedlings grown in solid (soil) and liquid (water) media. Both soil-grown and water-grown plants were capable of accumulating large amounts of Sb. In roots, concentration of Sb was always greater than in leaves, suggesting that roots can prevent transfer of the trace element to upper plant parts. Uptake of Sb by the plants grown in water was significantly greater compared to Sb uptake by the plants grown in soil.Antimony bioaccumulation resulted in variations in concentrations of some nutrients in different plant parts and decrease of the seedling biomass.

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