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Uptake of Cd, Pb, U, and Zn by plants in floodplain pollution hotspots contributes to secondary contamination

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Abstract

Willows, woody plants of genus Salix common in floodplains of temperate regions, act as plant pumps and translocate the Cd and Zn in the soil profiles of uncontaminated and weakly contaminated floodplains from the sediment bulk to the top strata. We suggest this process occurs because the Cd and Zn concentrations in willow leaves exceed those in the sediments. Senescing foliage of plant species common in floodplains can increase the Cd and Zn ratios as compared to other elements (Pb and common ‘lithogenic elements’ such as Al) in the top strata of all floodplains, including those that have been severely contaminated. The top enrichment is caused by the root uptake of specific elements by growing plants, which is followed by foliage deposition. Neither the shallow groundwater nor the plant foliage shows that Cd, Zn, and Pb concentrations are related to those in the sediments, but they clearly reflect the shallow groundwater pH, with the risk element mobilised by the acidity that is typical for the subsurface sediments in floodplains. The effect that plants have on the Pb in floodplains is significantly lower than that observed for Cd and Zn, while U can be considered even less mobile than Pb. Groundwater and plant leaves can contribute to secondary contamination with Cd and Zn from floodplain pollution hotspots, meaning that plants can accumulate these elements on the floodplain surface or even return them back to the fluvial transport, even if bank erosion would not occur. For Pb and U at the sites studied, these risks were negligible.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank to Michaela Perlíková (UJEP) for taking part in fieldworks, Petr Vorm (IIC Řež), who performed laboratory leaching experiments with the Litavka sediments and assisted with sampling in Litavka; Monika Maříková (IIC Řež) and Petr Vorm, who helped in processing the sediment samples at the laboratory, XRF analyses, and in the processing of biomass samples; and I. Machová (UJEP) who helped in the determination of different willow species.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

Funding

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation, project number 20-06728S, and research programs at the institutes listed as the author affiliations. MH received support for his work by UJEP internal project UJEP-SGS-2018-44-003-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 250 01, Řež, Czech Republic

    Tomáš Matys Grygar, Martin Faměra & Michal Hošek

  2. Faculty of Environment, J.E. Purkyně University in Ústí and Labem, Pasteurova 3632/15, ,400 96, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

    Michal Hošek & Jitka Elznicová

  3. Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojová 269, 165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Jan Rohovec, Šárka Matoušková & Tomáš Navrátil

Authors
  1. Tomáš Matys Grygar
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  2. Martin Faměra
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  4. Jitka Elznicová
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  7. Tomáš Navrátil
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Contributions

TMG coordinated the work, guided the fieldwork at the Ploučnice River, and drafted the manuscript; MF guided and conducted fieldwork in the Litavka River; MH performed fieldwork in the Röslau River; JE assisted in the Ploučnice River fieldwork and performed GIS; JR and ŠM performed analyses of the water and biomass and guaranteed the quality of the data; and TN assisted in the design of this study, assisted with the fieldwork at Litavka and Röslau, and contributed to data interpretation.

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Correspondence to Tomáš Matys Grygar.

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Supplementary information

ESM 1.

Orthophotos with individual study sites. (PDF 2028 kb)

ESM 2.

GIS coordinates of study sites. (XLSX 12 kb)

ESM 3.

Concentrations of selected trace and major elements in shallow groundwater in sampling sites shown in Supplementary Material 1. (XLSX 14 kb)

ESM 4.

Concentrations of selected trace and major elements in foliage of willows and non-shrubby plants in sampling sites shown in Supplementary Material 1. (XLSX 16 kb)

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Matys Grygar, T., Faměra, M., Hošek, M. et al. Uptake of Cd, Pb, U, and Zn by plants in floodplain pollution hotspots contributes to secondary contamination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 51183–51198 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14331-5

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