ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Optimization of the Efficiency of Mercury
Phytoremediation with Eichhornia crassipes
and Lemna minor in Water Contaminated
by Gold Mining
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1
Central Unit of Valley of Cauca UCEVA, Environmental Engineering Tuluá, Colombia
2
Research group in Natural Resources and Environmental Management Tolues, UCEVA
3
Secretariat of Agricultural Assistance and Environment, Tuluá, Colombia
4
Associated Ports Company Buenaventura, Colombia
5
Earth & Environment Corporation Tuluá, Colombia
6
Research group Ecobio Santiago de Cali University, Colombia
Submission date: 2024-05-15
Final revision date: 2024-08-23
Acceptance date: 2024-10-13
Online publication date: 2025-01-20
Publication date: 2025-11-04
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(6):7731-7745
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
This work investigated the phytoremediation of mercury (Hg) that is discharged in water by gold
mining, using Eichhornia crassipes and Lemna minor. The trials used different initial concentrations
of Hg in aqueous solution (0.5, 2.5, and 5.0 mg L-1) over two, four, and six days; at the end of each test,
the Hg concentration and pH were analyzed. E. crassipes presented the best performance because they
reduced Hg between 97-99% and had low mortality rates between 0-62%. As an aspect to highlight,
the adaptation and previous nutrition of the species before their contact with Hg showed significant
differences with respect to other studies that used the same species but without adaptation and nutrition.
The use of both species for the phytoremediation of Hg yields good results, and E. crassipes was better
for its lower mortality values.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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