Potential ability of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to phytomanage an urban brownfield soil

The ability of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Badischer Geudertheimer) for phytomanaging and remediating soil ecological functions at a contaminated site was assessed with a potted soil series made by fading an uncontaminated sandy soil with a contaminated sandy soil from the Borifer brownfield site, Bordeaux, SW France, at the 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% addition rates. Activities of sandblasting and painting with metal-based paints occurred for decades at this urban brownfield, polluting the soil with metal(loid)s and organic contaminants, e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in addition to past backfilling. Total topsoil metal(loid)s (e.g., 54,700 mg Zn and 5060 mg Cu kg −1) exceeded by seven-to tenfold the background values for French sandy soils, but the soil pH was 7.9, and overall, the 1M NH 4 NO 3 extractable soil fractions of metals were relatively low. Leaf area, water content of shoots, and total chlorophyll (Chl) progressively decreased with the soil contamination, but the Chl fluorescence remained constant near its optimum value. Foliar Cu and Zn concentrations varied from 17.8 ± 4.2 (0%) to 27 ± 5 mg Cu kg −1 (100%) and from 60 ± 15 (0%) to 454 ± 53 mg Zn kg −1 (100%), respectively. Foliar Cd concentration peaked up to Highlights • Total soil Zn, Cu, and Pb were high, but their bioavailability was low. • Quartz, calcite, microcline, fayalite, wustite, magnetite/maghemite, Fe silicates, metallic Fe, and Zn and Cu chromite were detected in the brownfield soil. • This tobacco cultivar grew relatively well in the brownfield soil. • Leaf area, water content of shoots, foliar total chlorophyll, and hydraulic efficiency of stem progressively decreased with the soil contamination. • Tobacco can annually phytoextract a fraction of the bioavailable soil Zn and Cd.