VARIATION IN HEAVY METAL CONTENT IN PLANTS GROWING ON A ZINC AND LEAD TAILINGS DUMP

Industrial waste landfills might cause contamination of agricultural land, forests, surface water and groundwater through migration of toxic substances, including heavy metals, posing a threat to all living organisms, including humans. The aim of the study was to assess the variation in Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu content in plants growing on a zinc and lead post-flotation tailings dump. The concentrations of the elements in the shoots and leaves of silver birch, black locust, common rowan, herbaceous plants and soil were determined by the flame atomic adsorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) method. The statistical nalysis indicates a significant relationship between the Pb and Zn concentrations and the plant species, plant part, and location on the dump. Differences in cadmium concentrations depending on the plant species were also statistically significant. None of these relationships was significant in the case of copper content. The mean biological concentration factors (BCF) were higher in plants growing on the southern slope of the dump. Of the elements analysed, zinc and cadmium were accumulated in larger quantities than lead and copper.