ACCUMULATION OF SOME HEAVY METALS BY HERB PLANTS GROWING IN FIELDS WITH PONDS

The aim of this paper is to describe accumulation of lead, cadmium and nickel in plants growing in different moister sections around three in-field ponds. The following plants were analysed: Potentilla anserina L., Mentha arvensis, Achillea millefolium L., Comarum palustre L., Lysimachia vulgaris L. and Lycopus europaeus L. Plant and soil samples were collected from three moisture sections: wet, periodically wet and dry. After dry mineralisation, Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used to measure the concentration of lead, cadmium and nickel in plant material, in soil and in bottom sediment. The findings show that of all the analysed herb plants only a few of them exceeded the limits of lead and cadmium concentration while the concentration of nickel was always below the limit. The content of heavy metals in the soil was much lower than their natural content in non-contaminated soil. The highest concentration of those metals was noted in the bottom sediment from the pond with arable land around. Herb plants growing in soil with low water content accumulated more lead, cadmium and zinc than plants growing in soil with higher moisture. The highest accumulation of lead (0.265) was observed in Potentilla anserina L., while cadmium (2.43) and nickel (0.403) in Comarum palustre L.