Phytoremediation of Organophosphorus and Organochlorine Pesticides by Acorus gramineus

Abstract

The performance of phytoremediation has proven effective in the removal of nutrients and metals from aqueous systems. However, little information is available regarding the behavior of pesticides and their removal pathways in aquatic environments involving plant-uptake. A detailed understanding of the kinetics of pesticide removal by plants and information on compound/plant partition coefficients can lead to an effective design of the phytoremediation process for anthropogenic pesticide reduction. It was determined that the reduction rates of four organophosphorus (OP) and two organochlorine (OC) pesticides (diazinon, fenitrothion, malathion, parathion, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene [HCB]) could be simulated by first-order reaction kinetics. The magnitude of k was dependent on the pesticide species and found within the range of 0.409 ？ 0.580 d-¹. Analytical results obtained by mass balances suggested that differential chemical stability, including diversity of molecular structure, half-lives, and water solubility, would greatly influence the removal mechanisms and pathways of OPs and OCs in a phytoreactor (PR). In the case of OP pesticides, plant accumulation was an important pathway for the removal of fenitrothion and parathion from water, while pesticide sorption in suspended matter (SM) was an important pathway for removal of dieldrin and HCB. The magnitude of the pesticide migration factor (M(pesticideP)) is a good indication of determining the tendency of pesticide movement from below- to above-ground biomass. The uncertainties related to the different phenomena involved in the laboratory phyto-experiment are also discussed.