Assessment of Phytoremediation Ability of Prosopis juliflora and Conocarpus lancifolius on Heavy Metals Contamination of Soils in Jeddah City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study aims towards evaluating  phytoremediation ability of  Prosopis juliflora and Conocarpus lanceolins on heavy metals (chromium, lead, and nickel)  contaminations of soils at  different locations in Jeddah. Soil samples were taken from same plant sites, near factories, main roads, and branch roads and from a house (as control). Soil texture, pH, and EC and the amount of Cr, Pb, and Ni were estimated for both plants and soils.  Results revealed that, soil texture is mainly sandy (78.5-96.5%, 1.0-16.5% silt, and 1.0-6.0 clay). The amount of heavy metal in soil of Prosopis juliflora sites were between 0.74-54.0\(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Cr, 0.31-4.64 \(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Pb and 1.22-24.5 \(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Ni. The range of Cr, Pb and Ni in the leaves was between 0.04-13.3.0\(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Cr, 0.06-20.0 \(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Pb and 0.16-9.0\(\mu\)g/g D.wt. for Ni. For the soil of Conocarpus lanceolins, the EC ranged between 0.27- 1.05 mS/cm; whereas, pH ranged from 7.29-7.55. this indicated the phytoremediation ability of these two species in reducing heavy elements in soil and absorbing them in their leaves. . Phytoremediation is an effective strategy to overcome the effects of heavy metals including Cr, Pb, and Ni that are being absorbed in plants.