Phytoremediation studies of Zn polluted soils using

Abstract

In the South of Madrid, áreas occupied by abandoned urban and industrial waste landfills, are the most polluted soils (CAM, 1998). In these zones, physical degradation, salinisation (Pastor et al. 1993a; Hernández et al. 1998) and heavy metal pollution are the most significant. Among the heavy metáis present, Zn is particularly problematic. The Zn levéis of the cover soils of these landfills are 600 ppm, but they do approach valúes for which remediation measures are recommended, and even surpass these in áreas prone to leaching (Hernández et a/., 1998). One such measure is the use of native plants that are capable of growth in polluted soil. This study was designed to search for a suitable candidate.