ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Phytoremediation of Industrial Wastewater
Containing Nitrates, Nitroglycerin, and Nitroglycol
Roman Marecik1, Róża Biegańska-Marecik2, Paweł Cyplik1,
Łukasz Ławniczak3, Łukasz Chrzanowski3
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1Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, Poznań University of Life Sciences,
Wojska Polskiego 48, 60-627 Poznań, Poland
2Institute of Food Technology of Plant Origin, Poznań University of Life Sciences,
Wojska Polskiego 31, 60-624 Poznań, Poland
3Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology,
Pl. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 2, 60-965 Poznań, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2013;22(3):773-780
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ABSTRACT
Experiments focused on evaluating the ability of three aquatic plant species (sweet flag, common reed,
and broadleaf cattail) to decontaminate industrial wastewater effluents from a nitroglycerin and nitroglycol
production factory were carried out in the framework of this study. Toxicity of a nitrate-rich wastewater toward
the studied plant species was determined by measurement of plant biomass gain, and subsequent mathematical
modeling allowed for assessment of IC50 values. The studied plant species were cultivated in hydroponic
cultures containing 1,500 mg/l of nitrates, 2.4 mg/l of nitroglycerin, and 1.0 mg/l of nitroglycol for 21 days,
during which the decontamination efficiency of each nitrogen-based compound was analyzed. It was observed
that the application of sweet flag and common reed contributed to a high nitrate removal efficiency (82 and
79%, accordingly). Sweet flag also was most efficient for decontamination of nitroglycerin (87%) and nitroglycol
(42%), but the removal of the former compound was preferential.