Phytotoxicity of lead on Lolium perenne L. and Lactuca sativa var. capitata L.: effects of germination and growth.

Lead is one of the most important pollutants in the environment. Plants absorb lead when it is present in the environment. Lolium perenne L and Lactuca sativa var. capitata L are species used for toxicity tests. The experiments were performed with different concentrations of lead nitrate (0.05 g/L; 0.1g/L; 0.5 g/L; 1 g/L) . Test targets refer to seeds germination, the growth of seedlings, fresh biomass weight, dry biomass weight and physiological parameter (dry weight/fresh weight; the quantity of dry mass from 100 g fresh weight) at seven and fourteen days. Lead toxicity inhibits germination of seeds and reduces the growth of seedlings. Lead can decrease germination percent, root length and strain length. Seedlings growth inhibition is not necessarily correlated with biomass reduction.