Parameters for Removal of Toxic Heavy Metals by Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)

Due to the increasing awareness of toxic heavy metals contamination to the environment, studies of metal accumulation from the view point of metal removal from contaminated water have been performed. Conventional methods including precipitation, oxidation, reduction, ion exchange, filtration, electrochemical treatment, membrane technologies and evaporation recovery are expensive or ineffective, especially when the metal concentrations are very low in the order of 1 to 100 mg/L. The use of biological systems for removing metals from low metal solution has the potential to achieve greater performance at lower cost. Water milfoil, a rooted aquatic higher plants, has been identified as a potential plant for bioremoval process. The goal of this study was to determine the range of metal adsorptive capabilities by water milfoil under different pH conditions. Five metals, cadmium, zinc, nickel, lead and copper, were used. 9 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.