The effect of toxic metal As on the Matricaria Chamomilla L. medicinal plant

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental laboratory study of the bioaccumulation of the toxic metal arsenic in the medicinal plant chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla L.). The study makes a comparison regarding the bioaccumulation capacity of the chamomile plant in which arsenic is found as a unique contaminant, as well as in mixtures of 2, 3, or 4 toxic metals (Cd, Ni and Pb) on a natural soil enriched with metals, compared to the chamomile plant developed on an unpolluted substrate. The tests followed the effects of soil pollution with metals on the germination and development of chamomile. The experimental results indicated that arsenic does not bioaccumulate in the chamomile plant, remaining in the soil. The experiment that was an exception is the one with arsenic as the only contaminant (E1) in which at 90 days, the arsenic content in the chamomile plant was 3.58 mg/kg arsenic, the value that is within normal limits, below the phytotoxic value of 5 mg/kg, but was higher than that determined in the plant from the control test experiment (<0.75 mg/kg). The bioaccumulation factor (BCF) after 90 days, in all experiments, either by a combination of metals or a single contaminant had values lower than 1, indicating that the plant does not accumulate arsenic. The total chlorophyll from the results obtained indicates that the toxicity in the E1 experiment is higher than in the metal mixture.