Grifoni, M., F. Pedron, G. Petruzzelli, I. Rosellini, M. Barbafieri, E. Franchi, and R. Bagatin.
AIMS Environmental Science 4(2):187-205(2017)

Repeated assisted phytoextraction cycles with Brassica juncea were conducted at lab scale to evaluate Hg and As removal efficiency from a multi-contaminated industrial soil. The researchers also investigated the effect of 2 additives, ammonium thiosulphate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate, to increase metal bioavailability in soil with the further goal of investigating the possibility of using only one additive to remove both Hg and As from soil simultaneously. Repeated additions of mobilizing agents increased metal availability in soil, promoted plant uptake, and consequently increased contaminant removal from the studied soil. Thiosulfate addition greatly promoted plant uptake of Hg and As concentrations in the B. juncea aerial part, but the toxic effects of Hg reduced biomass production, and the total accumulation of both metals in the plants tended to decrease at each subsequent re-growth. This paper is Open Access at http://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/environsci.2017.2.187/fulltext.html.