Growth and phytoremediative capacity of Eleusine indica in a typical farmland soil under previous exposure to organochlorine pesticide

Abstract

This study investigated the growth and phytoremediative response of Eleusine indica in a typical farmland soil that had been exposed to organochlorine pesticides. Different soil treatments were obtained by mixing pesticide polluted soil (P) with control soil (C) in ratios, 1P:99C, 5P:95C, 50P:50C, 25P:75C, 75P:25C, 100P and 100C. Three-leaf tillers of the test plant were sown in all the treatments for 3 months. The results revealed that there were no significant differences in all plant morphological parameters measured between plants in P impacted soils and C-soil. All the pH values were acidic, although an increase in pH and decrease in conductivity was observed with the introduction of the test plant. There was reduction in total pesticide residual (TPR) contents in the soil as a result of the plant activities. Significant reduction in q – BHC, α – chlordane and ϒ – chlordane was observed in the P1:C99 soil mix; a 90% remediation efficiency (1.663 mg kg^-1 ) was registered in the all treatments. This study thus presents E. indica as a potential concentrationdependent phytoremediator of pesticide, with no significant morphological changes.