STUDY OF MIGRATION TENDENCIES OF CERTAIN METALS FROM SOIL TO PLANTS USING MICROWAVE PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION SPECTROMETRY

Author: Natia Tchanturia
Keywords: Certain metals, Soil, Plants, Accumulation, Remediation, Microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry
Annotation:

Environmental pollution attributable to anthropogenic and natural sources is increasing rapidly with the human population, industrialization, urban development, and consumption of natural resources. The escalating incidence of soil contamination by metallic substances presents a significant threat to human health, environmental sustainability, and the integrity of soil quality. This predicament can be attributed to various anthropogenic activities such as irrigation with wastewater, overuse of agrochemicals, pollution from atmospheric sources, unintentional chemical and oil spillages, and mining operations, all of which exacerbate the accumulation of metals within the soil matrix. As a consequence, these contaminated soils serve as a pollution nexus for other environmental entities, most notably vegetation. However, some plant species can instigate soil rejuvenation by deploying their intrinsic phytoremediation capabilities. Phytoremediation, a term derived from the Greek words 'Phyto' (plant) and 'Remedium' (restoration of balance), represents a cost-effective strategy for soil decontamination. It relies fundamentally on the metabolic processes of plants and symbiotic microorganisms to mitigate environmental pollutants. The primary objective of our research was to explore the migration pathways of selected metals from soil to plants. To this end, we employed the technique of microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry, revered for its unique capabilities in providing high sensitivity, precise results, and the capacity for simultaneous multi-element analysis.