Soil pollution assessment and identification of hyperaccumulating plants in chromated copper arsenate (CCA) contaminated sites, Korea

In recent decades, heavy metal contamination in soil adjacent to chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood has received increasing attention. This study was conducted to determine the pollution level (PL) based on the concentrations of Cr, Cu and As in soils and to evaluate the remediative capacity of native plant species grown in the CCA contaminated site, Gangwon Province, Korea. The pollution index (PI), integrated pollution index (IPI), bioaccumulation factors (BAFshoots and BAFroots) and translocation factor (TF) were determined to ensure soil contamination and phytoremediation availability. The 19 soil samples from 10 locations possibly contaminated with Cr, Cu and As were collected. The concentrations of Cr, Cu and As in the soil samples ranged from 50.56–94.13 mg kg−1, 27.78–120.83 mg kg−1, and 0.13–9.43 mg kg−1, respectively. Generally, the metal concentrations decreased as the distance between the CCA-treated wood structure and sampling point increased. For investigating phytoremediative capacity, the 19 native plant species were also collected in the same area with soil samples. Our results showed that only one plant species of Iris ensata, which presented the highest accumulations of Cr (1120 mg kg−1) in its shoot, was identified as a hyperaccumulator. Moreover, the relatively higher values of BAFshoot (3.23–22.10) were observed for Typha orientalis, Iris ensata and Scirpus radicans Schk, suggesting that these plant species might be applicable for selective metal extraction from the soils. For phytostabilization, the 15 plant species with BAFroot values > 1 and TF values < 1 were suitable; however, Typha orientalis was the best for Cr.

► Heavy metal remediation in soils. ► Phytoremediation using native plant species. ► Bioaccumulation/translocation factors. ► Hyperaccumulating plants in chromated copper arsenate (CCA) contaminated soils.