PHYTOREMEDIATION OF PESTICIDE (IMIDACLOPRID)-CONTAMINATED SOILS WITH CUCURBITA PEPO L.

Pesticides are useful tools in agriculture, but they have also harmful effects on environment. There are several methods to remove pesticides from the polluted soils. One of them is phytoremediation. It has emerged in recent years as an environment-friendly method. In this study, pumpkin plant (Cucurbita pepo L.) was used for the phytoremediation of imidacloprid. Pumpkin seeds were planted into pot soil treated with 3 different doses of imidacloprid pesticide. After 14 days, distribution of imidacloprid in soil, root, stem and leaves were examined. Bio-concentration factors and translocation factors respectively varied between 0.46-1.35 and between 0.50-0.58. For recovery test, imidacloprid was applied to the untreated soil at 500 ng/g spiking level. Mean recoveries was 81.40% by SC and 86.88% by matrix-matched calibration with RSD of 4.75% and 5.64%, respectively. Overall recovery of the method was 84.23% with RSD of 6.01% (n = 14). These values comply with SANTE Guidelines. Imidacloprid concentration in soil decreased with time. The greatest imidacloprid concentration was observed in root, followed by leaf and stem parts. Plants up took imidacloprid by phytoextraction and kept around the root by the rhizofiltration. Imidacloprid was phytore-mediated from soil by 25.2% in this study.