Assessment of the Accumulation Performance of Mo, Pb, and Cu in the Acidic Water of Copper Mine with Lemna minor and Lemna gibba

Abstract

Pollutants accumulate in aquatic habitats as a result of mining activities. Lemna gibba and Lemna minor were used in this study to examine the accumulation capacities of Mo, Pb, and Cu in the acid fluids of the copper mining. Duckweed family includes water plants like L. minor and L. gibba. These are tiny, delicate, free-floating aquatic plants. Two reactors were assigned to L. gibba and L. minor, respectively. Throughout the course of eight days, these plants and reactor water were gathered every day. The acid mine water's pH, temperature, and electric conductivity were also tested every day. The L. gibba and L. minor were cleaned, dehydrated, and burned in a drying oven for a whole day at 300 oC. ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy) was used to determine the Mo, Pb, and Cu content of the plant and water samples. The concentrations of Mo, Pb, and Cu in the acid mine fluids of the copper mining were 30±4, 260±12, and 15535±322 μg L−1, in that order. When it came to extracting Mo, Pb, and Cu from the acidic fluids of the copper mining, L. gibba and L. minor performed well and efficiently compared to control samples; they did so 29 and 177 times for Mo, 30 and 109 times for Pb, and 495 and 1150 times for Cu. All things considered, the findings point to the possible application of L. gibba and L. minor in environmental rehabilitation by demonstrating their ability to efficiently extract Mo, Pb, and Cu from acid mine fluids.