Mitigation of Soil Arsenic by Phytoremediation Process

An experiment was conducted at the Department of Botany, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh to mitigate arsenic from soil by using phytoremediation process during the period from October 2012 to April 2013 following Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Four non edible fern (viz. V1, Adiantum sp; V2, Microlepia sp; V3, Pteris vittata and V4, Christella sp) and four soil arsenic concentrations (viz. A0, Control; A1, 1000-ppm; A2, 2000-ppm and A3, 4000-ppm) were exploited. Pteris vittata L. was found as the arsenic hyperaccumulating plant. It can survive with a very high concentration of arsenic in soil and accumulate 27829.7-ppm, 23274.7-ppm and 14911.0ppm arsenic when soil was treated with 4000-ppm, 2000-ppm and 1000-ppm arsenic respectively. On the other hand other fern species used in the experiment could not survive in soil treated with arsenic. Throughout the experimental period, different growth parameters of fern species showed distinct variation with increasing concentration of arsenic. Phytoremediation of arsenic by using Pteris vittata is a possible way for the mitigation of arsenic form soil which can keep away of arsenic pollution in food chain.