RESEARCH ARTICLE Phytoextraction of metals by Erigeron canadensis L. from fly ash landfill of power plant “Kolubara” Rada Krgović & Jelena Trifković & Dušanka Milojković-Opsenica & Dragan Manojlović & Marijana Marković & Jelena Mutić Received: 18 November 2014 /Accepted: 2 February 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Abstract The objectives of this study were to determine the concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, Cr, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Ba, Fe, Al and Ag in Erigeron canadensis L. growing on fly ash landfill of power plant BKolubara^, Serbia. The content of each ele- ment was determined in every part of plant separately (root, stalk and inflorescence) and correlated with the content of elements in each phase of sequential extraction of fly ash. In order to ambiguously select the factors that are able to decid- edly characterize the particular part of plant, principal compo- nent analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were performed. The bioconcentration factors and translocation factors for each metal were calculat- ed in order to determine the feasibility of the use of plant E. canadensis L. for phytoremediation purpose. There were strong positive correlations between metals in every part of plant samples, and metals from pseudo total form of sequential extraction indicate that the bioavailability of elements in fly ash is similarly correlated with total form. Retained Al, Fe, Cr and Co in the root indicate its suitability for phytostabilization. This plant takes up Cd and Zn from the soil (bioconcentration factors (BCFs) greater than 1), transporting them through the stalk into the inflorescence (translocation factors (TFs) higher than 1). Regarding its dominance in vegetation cover and abundance, E. canadensis L. can be considered adequate for phytoextraction of Cd and Zn from coal ash landfills at Kolubara Keywords Phytoremediation . Bioconcentration factor . Ash . Heavy metal accumulation . Erigeron canadensis L Introduction Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly approach for remediation of contaminated soil using plants. It involves processes as removal, transfer, stabilization or degradation of contaminants from soil and sediment water (Hughes et al. 1997). These processes are known as phytoextraction, phytofiltration, phytostabilization and phytovolatilization (Sarma 2011). Plants used for phytoextraction should be fast growing and deeply rooted, easily propagate and accumulate the target met- al (Ghosh and Singh 2005a). Many of toxic metals enter the environment as a conse- quence of fossil fuel combustion (Ram and Masto 2010). Lig- nite is an important source of fossil fuel and is often used for electrical energy production (Ćujić et al. 2014). In Serbia, BKolubara^ power plant, one of the oldest in Serbia, generates annually 6–8×10 9 kg of coal ash. Therefore, important envi- ronmental issues concerning ash disposal areas are the need of huge space for deposition as well as the potential pollution of water and air. Combustion waste deposited in landfills displays numerous properties which are unfavorable for plant growth, such as a poor air and water ratio, excessively alkaline reaction and, in some cases, high content of heavy metals (Krzaklewski et al. 2012). From environmental point of view, fly ash not only Responsible editor: Elena Maestri Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11356-015-4192-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. R. Krgović RTB Kolubara, Svetog Save 1, Lazarevac, Serbia J. Trifković : D. Milojković-Opsenica : D. Manojlović : J. Mutić (*) Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 12-16, P.O. Box 51, 11158 Belgrade 118, Serbia e-mail: jmutic@chem.bg.ac.rs M. Marković Center for Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Njegoševa 12, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Environ Sci Pollut Res DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4192-5