Phytoextraction Potential of Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. with Specific Reference to Lead and Cadmium Mayank Varun • Rohan D’Souza • Joa ˜o Pratas • M. S. Paul Received: 31 December 2010 / Accepted: 3 May 2011 / Published online: 10 May 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract Root and shoot samples of Prosopis juliflora were assessed for their heavy metal content to evaluate the species as a green solution to decontaminate soils con- taminated with lead and cadmium. The highest uptake of both the metals was observed in plants from industrial sites. Sites with more anthropogenic disturbance exhibited reduced chlorophyll levels, stunted growth, delayed and shortened reproductive phase. The ratios of lead and cad- mium in leaves to lead and cadmium in soil were in the range of 0.62–1.46 and 0.55–1.71, respectively. Strong correlation between the degree of contamination and con- centrations of lead and cadmium in plant samples identifies P. juliflora as an effective heavy metal remediator coupled with environmental stress. Keywords Lead Á Cadmium Á Prosopis juliflora Á Phytoremediation Human activity has continuously increased the level of heavy metals circulating in the environment. Heavy metal pollution of the biosphere has accelerated rapidly and soil toxicity poses major environmental problems. Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are persistent environmental contami- nants since they cannot be degraded or destroyed. Pb is released into the environment during its mining and smelting activities, from automobile exhausts, by com- bustion of petro fuels with anti-knocking additives like tetraethyl and tetra methyl lead, old lead paints, batteries, etc. as well as from industrial and liquid domestic waste. Cadmium is released as a byproduct of zinc and lead refining (Duruibe et al. 2007) and from vehicular exhausts and fertilizers. Excessive metal concentration in contami- nated soils might result in decreased soil microbial activity and soil fertility, yield loss and possible contamination of the food chain. Agra is a major international tourist attraction in the north-central region of India. The river Yamuna located in the study area is also exposed to pol- lution from commercial and domestic waste. The riverbed and riverbank thus, act like a sink for the pollutants that the river carries. Several technologies exist for remediation of metal contaminated soils and water, but the emphasis is on ‘green’ phytoremedial systems nowadays. Phytoremedia- tion is the use of living plants to extract metals from the soil (phytoextraction) or to render them harmless in situ by binding them (phytostabilisation) (Lombi et al. 2001). Many plants have been well documented as hyperaccu- mulators as well as indicators of high metal concentrations in soil, but these are slow growing, and not very wide- spread. In most cases their biomass yield is also quite low. The plants used in for successful phytoextraction should have substantial biomass and a significant translocation factor [TF]: the ratio of heavy metal concentration in the shoot to that in the root of the plant (Luo et al. 2005). It has been demonstrated that, wild native plants may be better phytoremediators for waste lands than the known metal bioaccumulators from literature. A range of native, well adapted plants have been tested and used widely for heavy metal bioindicator and phytoremedial purposes including Lobelia chinensis, Solanum nigrum, Calotropis procera M. Varun (&) Á R. D’Souza Á M. S. Paul Department of Botany, St. John’s College, Agra 282002, India e-mail: 30mayank@gmail.com J. Pratas Departmento de Cie ˆncias da Terra, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-272 Coimbra, Portugal 123 Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2011) 87:45–49 DOI 10.1007/s00128-011-0305-0