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Arsenic accumulation in native plants of West Bengal, India: prospects for phytoremediation but concerns with the use of medicinal plants

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) is a widespread environmental and food chain contaminant and class I, non-threshold carcinogen. Plants accumulate As due to ionic mimicry that is of importance as a measure of phytoremediation but of concern due to the use of plants in alternative medicine. The present study investigated As accumulation in native plants including some medicinal plants, from three districts [Chinsurah (Hoogly), Porbosthali (Bardhman), and Birnagar (Nadia)] of West Bengal, India, having a history of As pollution. A site-specific response was observed for Specific Arsenic Uptake (SAU; mg kg − 1 dw) in total number of 13 (8 aquatic and 5 terrestrial) collected plants. SAU was higher in aquatic plants (5–60 mg kg − 1 dw) than in terrestrial species (4–19 mg kg − 1 dw). The level of As was lower in medicinal plants (MPs) than in non-medicinal plants, however it was still beyond the WHO permissible limit (1 mg kg − 1 dw). The concentration of other elements (Cu, Zn, Se, and Pb) was found to be within prescribed limits in medicinal plants (MP). Among the aquatic plants, Marsilea showed the highest SAU (avg. 45 mg kg − 1 dw), however, transfer factor (TF) of As was the maximum in Centella asiatica (MP, avg. 1). Among the terrestrial plants, the maximum SAU and TF were demonstrated by Alternanthera ficoidea (avg. 15) and Phyllanthus amarus (MP, avg. 1.27), respectively. In conclusion, the direct use of MP or their by products for humans should not be practiced without proper regulation. In other way, one fern species (Marsilea) and some aquatic plants (Eichhornia crassipes and Cyperus difformis) might be suitable candidates for As phytoremediation of paddy fields.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Botanical Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lucknow, 226 001, UP, India

    Preeti Tripathi, Sanjay Dwivedi, Aradhana Mishra, Amit Kumar, Richa Dave, Mridul Kumar Shukla, Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, Debasis Chakrabarty, Prabodh Kumar Trivedi & Rudra Deo Tripathi

  2. Nuclear Agriculture & Biotechnology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, Maharashtra, India

    Sudhakar Srivastava

  3. Ecotoxicology & Bioremediation Group, National Botanical Research Institute (C.S.I.R.), Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, 226 001, India

    Rudra Deo Tripathi

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  1. Preeti Tripathi
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  2. Sanjay Dwivedi
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  3. Aradhana Mishra
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  4. Amit Kumar
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  5. Richa Dave
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  6. Sudhakar Srivastava
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  7. Mridul Kumar Shukla
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  8. Pankaj Kumar Srivastava
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  9. Debasis Chakrabarty
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  10. Prabodh Kumar Trivedi
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  11. Rudra Deo Tripathi
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Correspondence to Rudra Deo Tripathi.

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Preeti Tripathi and Sanjay Dwivedi contributed equally to the results of this study.

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Tripathi, P., Dwivedi, S., Mishra, A. et al. Arsenic accumulation in native plants of West Bengal, India: prospects for phytoremediation but concerns with the use of medicinal plants. Environ Monit Assess 184, 2617–2631 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2139-y

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