Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals from Paper Mill Effluent Soil Using <i>Croton sparsiflorus</i>

Abstract

Effluents from industries contain appreciable amount of metallic cations like zinc, copper, iron, manganese, lead and cadmium. Release of heavy metal without proper treatment poses a significant threat to public health because of its persistence biomagnifications and accumulation in food chain. To reduce metal pollution problems many processes have been developed for the treatment and disposal of metal containing wastes. Certain plants have the ability to accumulate heavy metals such as Pb, Cr, Cd and Zn. At present, phytoremediation of metals may be approaching commercialization. Hence, possibility can be explored to remove heavy metal load, present even in low concentration, in waste water of paper mill effluent soil by using Croton sparsiflorus.