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Phytoremediation potential of Brassica juncea L. with reference to Atrazine
Authors: Khan Shahana J and Gaikwad Rupali S
Number of views: 330
Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicide in the agriculture today. It is a triazine herbicide that is used for control of broad leaf weeds, mainly in corn and sorghum and also many other crops. Atrazine is highly persistent in soil and is leached directly from the soil into groundwater, surface water, and drinking water. Contamination may pose a significant threat to humans, wildlife, and the environment.
Greenhouse experiments were carried out to determine potential capability of Brassica juncea L. plant to remediate atrazine contaminated soil. Persistence of atrazine in the treated soil and its residue were estimated by High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Data obtained with soil treated at 1000ppm of atrazine showed that residues of atrazine were less in soil planted with Brassica juncea L. compared with unplanted soil. Considerable concentration of atrazine i.e. 20.5μg/ml and 18.5μg/ml were detected in sterilized unplanted soil and soil planted with Brassica juncea L. respectively after 30 days of sowing. While these values were 17.5μg/ml and 14.0μg/ml in non-sterilized unplanted and planted soil respectively. This study demonstrated that residues of atrazine were reduced at faster rate in treated soil which was planted with Brassica juncea L. than the unplanted soil indicating that Brassica juncea L. was useful for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with atrazine