PHYTOREMEDIATION OF CHROMIUM, COPPER AND LEAD FROM A FIREARM FACTORY IN MARIKINA CITY, PHILIPPINES USING Ipomoea aquatica

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the capability of Ipomoea aquatica for phytoremediation. Plants were grown in a container with different concentrations of wastewater obtained from a firearm factory in Marikina City. The wastewater concentrations were 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. A control using pure distilled water was also used. The experiment was carried out under hydroponic set up. The absorption of heavy metals such as chromium, copper and lead were evaluated and tested after 21 days of submerging the plants in wastewater solution. The chromium, copper and lead that were accumulated by the plants were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The plant height, length of roots and number of nodes were observed for 21 days. The concentration of copper observed increased with increasing concentratio ns of wastewater. The plants were not able to absorb chromium and lead but survived and thus tolerated the concentration range of 0.001 to 0.002mg/L of chromium and 0.0015mg/L to 0.3mg/L of lead. The results showed that Ipomoea aquatica were not capable fo r the absorption of chromium and lead but tolerates the amount present in the wastewater and accumulate copper in different treatments. AAS showed that there were no amount of chromium and lead detected on the plant tissue samples. The initial copper conce ntration detected via AAS in pure distilled water was 2mg/L, 8mg/L in 5% wastewater, 9mg/L in 10%, 8mg/L in 15% and 12mg/L in 20% wastewater.