Feasibility of Phytoextraction to Clean Up Low-Level Uranium-Contaminated Soil

Hildegarde Vandenhove, May Van Hees, Stefaan Van Winckel

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    The potential to phytoextract uranium (U) from a sandy soil contaminated at low levels was tested in the greenhouse. Two soils were tested: a control soil (317 Bq 238U kg-1) and the same soil washed with bicarbonate (69 Bq 238U kg-1). Ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Melvina), Indian mustard (Brassica juncea cv. Vitasso), and Redroot Pigweed (Amarathus retroflexus) were used as test plants. The annual removal of the soil activity with the biomass was less than 0.1%. The addition of citric acid (25 mmol kg-1) 1 week before the harvest increased U uptake up to 500-fold. With a ryegrass and mustard yield of 15000 kg ha-1 and 10000 kg ha-1, respectively, up to 3.5% and 4.6% of the soil activity could annually be removed with the biomass. With a desired activity reduction level of 1.5 and 5 for the bicarbonate washed and control soil, respectively, it would take 10 to 50 years to attain the release limit. A linear relationship between the plant 238U concentration and the 238U concentration in the soil solution of the control, bicarbonate-washed, or citric acid-treated soil points to the importance of the soil solution activity concentration in determining U uptake and hence to the importance of solubilising agents to increase plant uptake. However, citric acid addition resulted in a decreased dry weight production (all plants tested) and crop regrowth (in case of ryegrass).

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)301-320
    Number of pages20
    JournalInternational Journal of Phytoremediation
    Volume3
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 2001

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Environmental Chemistry
    • Pollution
    • Plant Science

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