ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Phytoremediation Potential of Three Wetland
Plant Species Toward Atrazine in Environmentally
Relevant Concentrations
Roman Marecik1, Wojciech Białas1, Paweł Cyplik1, Łukasz Ławniczak2,
Łukasz Chrzanowski2
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1Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, University of Life Sciences in Poznań,
Wojska Polskiego 48, 60-627 Poznań, Poland
2Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology,
Pl. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 2, 60-965 Poznań, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2012;21(3):697-702
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This study focused on assessing the phytoremediation potential of wetland plants toward atrazine in an
aquatic environment. Changes in plant biomass and atrazine content were investigated for three plant species:
sweet flag, broadleaf cattail, and narrow-leaf cattail. Atrazine removal and shifts in plant biomass were
assessed. Two mathematical models were built to describe atrazine toxicity toward the studied plant species
and fate of atrazine during long-term phytoremediation. Sweet flag exhibited the highest tolerance toward
atrazine as well as the most efficient atrazine removal rate. The average atrazine half-life was significantly
reduced from about 400 days to 5 days. The highest studied initial concentration of atrazine (20 mg/l) was
reduced by more than 99% after 40 days.