Assessment of the cadmium absorption ability of Ipomoea aquatica (Kang-kong) in water

Date

10-2012

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

College

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Pauline Angelic T. Roxas

Abstract

A laboratory-scale phytoremediation study was carried out using Ipomea aquatica. The study focused on the assessment of CD absorption of the plant. Analysis of cadmium was done using AAS. Ipomea aquatica or kang-kong, widely known as a vegetable, was purposely grown in deep well water prior to the laboratory experiment. For the preliminary determination of the baseline CD concentration of the plants, analysis of deep well water was conducted and showed that no cadmium was initially present. Test of the absorption ability of Ipomoea aquatica using different concentrations of Cd showed that the working concentration of Cd for the plant samples was 15 mg CD/L with highest removal of Cd from the meduim and tolerable physical responses of the plant. The plants grown in medium containing Cd (15 mg Cd/L) were collected at various time intervals and analyzed for Cd content. Amounts of Cd in the roots and aerial portions, in general, continously increased over the 14 days of monitoring. These resulted to significant values of biological accumulation factor (BAF) for the plant. However, longer time of exposure resulted to the deterioration of the plant health, shown by wilting and yellowing of leaves. Higher concentrations of the metal were observed in the roots than in the aerial part. The tranfer factor(TF) then shows the ability of Ipomoea aquatica in transporting the absorbed Cd from its roots. The highest attained TF (0.084) shows that the plant was unable to easily transport Cd to its aerial subsection. Hence, Ipomoea aquatica can be classified as a metal excluder and rhizofiltration is the mechanism involved in the uptake of metals.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2012 C42 /G35

Document Type

Thesis

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