Phytoremediation of Jordanian Uranium-Rich Soil Using Sunflower

Abstract

Uranium-contaminated environments pose a risk to human health by means of its transfer to the food chain. Overcoming this issue requires using effective methods to minimize the availability of uranium and other metals in soils. Jordan has a promising project for electricity generation from nuclear power. To move forward with this nuclear project, the Jordan Central Area has been mined for uranium. The expansion of the mining activities in this area led to elevated contents of heavy metal in the surface soil. Phytoremediation efficiency in reducing uranium content from uranium-rich carbonate soil was tested using sunflower plants. Forty-eight sunflower plants were planted in three soil samples containing three different uranium concentrations. The plants were harvested after different planting periods in order to investigate the phytoremediation efficiency over time. The ability of sunflowers to translocate uranium was investigated and the results showed that the translocated amount of uranium to plant increased as the initial concentration of uranium in the soil increased. However, most of the uranium taken up by the sunflower was accumulated in the roots, and only 3% of the uranium concentration in the roots passed to the harvestable shoots. Moreover, the biomass of the plants was not affected by increasing uranium concentration in the plants indicating that sunflower is resistant to radiation and toxicity of uranium at these levels found in the soil.

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