Abstract

KOBAISSI, Ahmad Najib; KANSO, Ali Ahmad  and  KANBAR, Hussein Jaafar. Translocation of heavy metals in Zea mays L. treated with wastewater and consequences on morphophysiological aspects. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2014, vol.30, n.3, pp.297-305. ISSN 0188-4999.

Utilization of treated wastewater has become an alternative for crop irrigation due to freshwater scarcity. For that reason, a pot experiment was conducted using treated wastewater from a Lebanese wastewater treatment plant as an irrigation source to study the effect on the physical and morphophysiological performance of Zea mays L. Treatments with 50 % wastewater showed superior characteristics for some of the plant's features, such as leaf area, plant dry mass, nitrate reductase activity and chlorophyll content; while those treated with 100 % wastewater negatively affected the plant's growth. Cadmium was the only metal that was mostly accumulated in the leaf for all treatments, while other metals were accumulated in the roots (Na and Fe), stem (Zn and K) or in either root or leaf according to concentration of wastewater. Major elements to the plant, such as sodium and potassium were highly accumulated in the plants treated with 50 and 100 % wastewater, nevertheless, metals were also accumulated (order: Fe > Cu > Cd > Zn), but at lower amounts, and only cadmium content in the plant is considered harmful to feeding livestock, while zinc is considered potentially harmful. Finally, proper irrigation with wastewater can boost plant's growth, and therefore can be used as an alternative of traditional irrigation.

Keywords : leaves, metal; physiology; roots; stem; wastewater; corn.

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