Phytoremediation of Potential Toxic Elements in Contaminated Sewaged Soils by Canola (Brassica napus) or Indian mustard (Brassica juncea Czern.) Plants in Association with Mycorrhiza

In a completely randomized pot experiment design in the greenhouse the two hyper-accumulator plants Indian mustard and Canola were tested to phytoremediate PTEs in the presence and absence of vesiculararbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) inoculation from the two contaminated sewaged soils. The first soil was highly contaminated with PTEs while the second one was only marginally contaminated. Results indicated that inoculation with VAM was effective in enhancing the phytoremediation process by both tested hyperaccumulator plants in highly and marginally contaminated sewaged soils. PTE's desorption from the studied contaminated sewaged soils was drastically affected by the type of the hyper-accumulating plants used. On the basis of the individual decontamination rate of each of the studied PTEs, Indian mustard plant was superior. On the other hand, using the calculated Zn equivalent values canola was more recommendable. This finding might be ascribed to the interaction between the different PTE's studied in soil system and the efficiency of canola in minimizing the hazards of PTE's under such conditions. According to the numerical values of β factor (correlated with ion uptake) canola exhibited a distinguished superiority to uptake PTEs from the studied contaminated sewaged soils system compared to Indian mustard and hence it is recommended under the specific conditions of sewaged soils. Generally, the phytoremediation process was more effective in the highly contaminated sewaged soil by Indian mustard associated with VAM.