Obsolete pesticides and application of colonizing plant species for remediation of contaminated soil in Kazakhstan

Abstract

In Kazakhstan, there is a problem of finding ways to clean local sites contaminated with pesticides. In particular, such sites are the deserted and destroyed storehouses where these pesticides were stored; existing storehouses do not fulfill sanitary standards. Phytoremediation is one potential method for reducing risk from these pesticides. Genetic heterogeneity of populations of wild and weedy species growing on pesticide-contaminated soil provides a source of plant species tolerant to these conditions. These plant species may be useful for phytoremediation applications. In 2008-2009 and 2011, we surveyed substances stored in 80 former pesticide storehouses in Kazakhstan (Almaty oblast) to demonstrate an inventory process needed to understand the obsolete pesticide problem throughout the country, and observed a total of 354.7 t of obsolete pesticides. At the sites, we have found organochlorine pesticides residues in soil including metabolites of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane. Twenty-four of the storehouse sites showed pesticides concentrations in soil higher than maximum allowable concentration which is equal to 100 μg kg(-1) in Kazakhstan. Seventeen pesticide-tolerant wild plant species were selected from colonizing plants that grew into/near the former storehouse's pesticides. The results have shown that colonizing plant annual and biannual species growing on soils polluted by pesticides possess ability to accumulate organochlorine pesticide residues and reduce pesticide concentrations in soil. Organochlorine pesticides taken up by the plants are distributed unevenly in different plant tissues. The main organ of organochlorine pesticide accumulation is the root system. The accumulation rate of organochlorine pesticides was found to be a specific characteristic of plant species and dependent on the degree of soil contamination. This information can be used for technology development of phytoremediation of pesticide-contaminated soils.

Phytotoxicity and phytogenotoxicity of soils in the area of liquidated pesticide-burial ground

“…Such relation was also reported by Alamdar et al (2014). Genotoxic effect observed in our research concerned root cells, but it is proved that contaminants uptaken by roots from soil, may be translocated to the over ground part of plant, with ef-ficiency depending on the species (Nurzhanova et al 2013). In areas with contaminated soils, disturbances were observed in generative parts of plants in several native species: Chelidonium majus, Clematis vitalba, Cichorium intybus, Linaria vulgaris (Misik et al 2007), and also Artemisia vulgaris, Melilotus albus, Trifolium pretense, Salix caprea, Lamium maculatum and others (Solenska et al 2006, Greguskova andMicieta 2013).…”

Plant–bacteria partnerships for the remediation of persistent organic pollutants

“…This unexpected occurrence is because of the transportation of many of the POPs from the USA and Canada to Alaska, where they sank and settled in the ice sheets without being degraded (Braune et al 2005;Newton et al 2014). In general, POPs tend to evaporate in hot places and then condense back in colder regions (Nurzhanova et al 2013;Qiu 2013).…”

Phytoremediation and Bioremediation of Pesticide-Contaminated Soil

“…The vegetation reduces wind-blown dust and the movement of the pesticides from the site [156]. Nurzhanova et al [169,173,174] have provided a list of 17 pesticide-tolerant plants that grew in soils where high pesticide concentrations were present. The growth of plants in contaminated field soil often improves soil quality by increasing microbial populations and organism diversity, and by adding organic matter to the soil [10,26,53,189,190].…”

“…There are safety concerns at some of these sites because of leaking containers and spills. In many cases there is soil contamination at storage sites and surrounding areas because pesticides have been spilled and dispersed [169,173,174].…”