Transport kovů v systému půda - rostlina

Transport of cadmium, mercury and lead from soil to plants was studied in urban area of Brno city. Five sites with different levels of contamination loading, with high traffic density, industrial production and population density were selected. The total contents of cadmium, lead and mercury in soils and plants (dandelion - Taraxacum officinale) were determined. Dandelion plants were used as biomonitoring organisms of environmental pollution. For the assessment of bioavailable metal forms, single extraction procedures, diffusive gradient in thin films technique (DGT) were used. The obtained results were correlated with metal contens in plants. In the second part, the leachability of cadmium, lead and zinc in samples of agricultural soils, highly contaminated by atmospheric deposition of two smelters in northern France, were investigated. The total contents of cadmium, lead and zinc in soils and plants (Miscanthus giganteus) were determined. Miscanthus plants were used as experimental fytoremediation plants. Pseudototal contents were compared with results from fractionation analysis obtained by sequential extractions, with bioaccessible contents determinated by UBM test (Unified Barge Method, in vitro test) and with bioavailable metal contents determined by diffusive gradient in thin films technique (DGT)

Utilizing electrochemical techniques for detection of biological samples

Heavy metals rank among the most toxic compounds occurring in the environment; they are also dangerous due to bioaccumulation. Plants and animals have developed a number of protective mechanisms. The detoxification mechanisms of heavy metals in different organisms have been intensively studied for many years. We aimed at investigation of detoxification mechanisms of maize plants treated with 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 400 and 500 μM Cd(II) solutions for six days. In particular, we observed their growth and determined the Cd content (by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry) and thiol concentration (by HPLC) in the treated plants. Maize plants took up 6 pg of Cd per gram per hour at the lowest dose and 23 pg Cd per g per hour at the highest Cd dose. The relations of glutathione and phytochelatin contents, applied Cd dose, cultivation time, growth curve and plant morphology were investigated