Environ Monit Assess (2012) 184:1015–1024 DOI 10.1007/s10661-011-2017-7 Bio-concentration of chromium—an in situ phytoremediation study at South Kaliapani chromite mining area of Orissa, India Monalisa Mohanty · Mausumi M. Pattnaik · Aruna K. Mishra · Hemanta K. Patra Received: 31 December 2009 / Accepted: 16 March 2011 / Published online: 13 April 2011 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Mine waste water at South Kaliapani usually contains toxic levels of hexavalent Cr(VI). The present in situ study was conducted at South Kaliapani chromite mine area in Orissa state, In- dia, to assess the phytoremediation ability of three plants, namely, rice (Oryza sativa L.), paragrass (Brachiaria mutica), and an aquatic weed (Eich- hornia crassipes), in attenuating Cr(VI) from mine waste water and to correlate the bio-concentration factors (BCF) of Cr. Water hyacinth (E. crassipes) showed 24% to 54% reduction whereas paragrass (B. mutica) was able to reduce 18% to 33% of Cr(VI) from mine water. This reduction was stud- ied over a period of 100 days of plant growth. The reduction was observed through a passage of a sum total of 2,000 sq. ft. cultivated plots and ponds separately. Reduction in Cr(VI) content in mine water varies with plant age as well as with the distance of passage. Cr accumulation and BCF values increased with high soil Cr levels as well as the age of plants. High BCF and transportation in- dex (Ti) values, i.e., 10,924 and 32.09, respectively, were noted for water hyacinth. The Ti values indicated that the root-to-shoot translocation of M. Mohanty (B ) · M. M. Pattnaik · A. K. Mishra · H. K. Patra Laboratory of Environmental Physiology, Post-Graduate Department of Botany, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751004, Orissa, India e-mail: 18.monalisa@gmail.com Cr was very high after 100 days of growth. The total accumulation rate was maximum (8.29 mg Cr kg dry biomass −1 day −1 ) in paragrass. The BCF values for roots were noted to be higher than those of leaves, stems, and grains of the 125-day- old plants. Hence, paragrass and water hyacinth may be used as tools of phytoremediation to com- bat the problem of in situ Cr contamination. Keywords Hexavalent chromium · Phytoaccumulation · Bio-concentration factor · Total accumulation rate · Transportation index Introduction India is the second largest producer of chromites in the world. Open cast chromite mining activity leads to various environmental problems due to the released hexavalent chromium (VI). Contam- ination of soil and water in chromite mining areas is a widespread and serious problem. Orissa state accounts for 98% of the total chromite reserve of the country and the South Kaliapani chromite mine area of Orissa contributes about 97% of the total chromite reserve of the state (IBM 2004). As a result of growing open cast mining activi- ties in the area, the environment is under threat. The element chromium exists in two stable states,