M. Del Rio et al., Field trials of Brassica carinata and Brassica juncea in polluted soils ofthe Guadiamar river area., FR ENV BULL, 9(5-6), 2000, pp. 328-332
Phytoextraction is a subjet of phytoremediation in which metal-accumulating
plants are used to transport and concentrate metals from soils into the ha
rvestable parts(1). In this study we test the capacity of some genotypes of
Brassica juncea (L. Czern. & Coss.) and Brassica carinata (A. Braun) for u
ptaking heavy metals from polluted soils after the toxic spill of the Aznal
collar mine (southern Spain). We present the levels of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd fo
und in the soil and the concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cu in the harvested pl
ants. High concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cu were present in the soil. B. jun
cea had greater capacity for uptaking than B. carinata for all the metals a
nalysed except for Cu.