Preliminary investigation of Spartina alterniflora for phytoextraction of selected heavy metals in soils from Southwest Louisiana

Spartina alterniflora plants were collected at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge near Lake Charles, Louisiana for phytoremediation (phytoextraction) studies. In order to determine whether the plant would thrive in different soils and undergo phytoremediation, three soils were used and analyzed: experimental controlled soil (minimum heavy metal contamination), spiked soil (spiked with 100 ppm of selected heavy metals of Cr, Cu, Pb, Fe and Zn) collected from a local store and contaminated soil collected from the known contaminated (with metals) Bayou d'Inde in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The plant grew evenly in each of the three soils. Based on the inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometric determination of the plant in each soil, it was shown that S. alterniflora exhibited potential for phytoremediation of metals in soils via phytoextraction into the roots.