Influences of U Sources and Forms on Its Bioaccumulation in Indian Mustard and Sunflower

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 229; no. 11; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Meng, Fande, Jin, Decheng, Guo, Kai, Larson, Steven L., Ballard, John H., Chen, Liangmei, Arslan, Zikri, Yuan, Guodong, White, Jeremy R., Zhou, Lixiang, Ma, Youhua, Waggoner, Charles A., Han, Fengxiang X.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.11.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Bioavailability; Bioremediation; Brassica; Brassica juncea; Clean technology; Cleaning; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Contamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Feasibility studies; Flowers & plants; Green technology; Heavy metals; Helianthus annuus; Human influences; Hydrogeology; Mining industry; Mustard; Nuclear electric power generation; Nuclear energy; Phytoremediation; Plant roots; Radioisotopes; Shoots; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil remediation; Soil Science & Conservation; Speciation; Species; Uptake; Uranium; Uranium dioxide; Water Quality/Water Pollution; U speciation; Redistribution; Plant species; Depleted uranium; Phytoremediation
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-018-4023-7

Anthropogenic activities, such as ore mining and processing, nuclear power generation, and weapon tests, have generated uranium (U) contamination to soils and waters. The mobility and bioavailability of U are influenced by its sources, speciation, and plant species. Phytoremediation has emerged as an environmentally friendly, cost-effective green technology to remediate radioisotope- and metal-contaminated soils. The main objective of this study was to explore the feasibility using sunflower ( Helianthus annuus ) and Indian mustard ( Brassica juncea ) in cleaning up soils with UO 2 , UO 3 , and UO 2 (NO 3 ) 2 . Uranium was found to be bioaccumulated in plant roots more than plant shoots. Uranium uptake by both plant species was significantly higher from the UO 3 - and uranyl-contaminated soils than from UO 2 -contaminated soils. UO 3 - and UO 2 (NO 3 ) 2 -contaminated soils showed higher exchangeable, weak acid extractable, and labile U than the UO 2 -contaminated soils. After a growing season, three U forms decreased as redistribution/transformation of U resulted in U species with lower extractability. This study indicates the importance of U speciation in soil with regard to the potential use of sunflower and Indian mustard for phytoremediation of U-contaminated soils.