Abstract

When exposed to 1, 700 ml of 0.089, 0.445 or 0.890 mM/l cadmius solution, dock (rumex crispus L)plants from heavily polluted chungrangchon site absorbed 0.0404, 0.2244 or 0.4929 mM of cadmium per g dw during the first 4 hours, which were 5.0~30.8 times faster uptake rate than those of water hyacinth (eichhornia crassipes Solm. - laub). Zinc, with which cadmium generally occurs together, did not affect the uptake rate in the concentration range of 0.0306 ~0.0918 mM/l. rumex cripus from chungrangchon site and from less polluted shingalchon site, when exposed to 1, 700 ml of 0.089 mM/l solution for 3 days, removed 68.4% and 63.2%, repectively, of the cadmium initially present in the solution. And when exposed to cadmium solution of the same concentration for the second time after cadmium-free hydroponic culture for three days, these plants removed 76.1% and 66.8% of cadmium, respectively. These removal rates were not significantly different between collection sites or between exposures, but were about 2 times greater for the first exposure, and 2~5 times greater for the second exposure, than those of water hyacinth. these results incate that rumex cripus can absorb, and thus remove, large amount of cadmium ion in wastewater, and so can be used in wastewater treatment, e.g. soil trench method. since there was large difference among the plants in the ability to absorb cadmium, it should be possible to select for strain with greater ability.

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