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7338883 
Journal Article 
POTENTIAL OF RAPESEED (Brassica napus L.) FOR PHYTOREMEDIATION OF SOILS CONTAMINATED WITH HEAVY METALS 
Angelova, VR; Ivanova, RI; Todorov, JM; Ivanov, KI 
2017 
Yes 
Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology
ISSN: 1311-5065 
18 
2 
468-478 
WOS:000407305300007 
A field study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) for phytoremediation of contaminated soils in the absence and presence of organic soil amendments (compost and vermicompost). The experiment was performed on an agricultural field contaminated by the Non-ferrous-metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The field experimental was a randomised complete block design containing five treatments and four replications (20 plots). The treatments consisted of a control (no organic amendments), compost amendments (added at 20 and 40 t/da), and vemicompost amendments (added at 20 and 40 t/da). Upon reaching commercial ripeness, the rapeseed plants were gathered. The oil from ground seed was derived under laboratory conditions through an extraction method with the Socksle apparatus. Heavy metal contents in roots, stems, leaves, pods, seeds, oils and meals of rapeseed were determined. The addition of compost and vermicompost leads to decrease of the content of Pb, Zn and Cd, in the roots and stems, while the content of Pb and Cd increases in the pods of the rape. The addition of organic meliorants significantly reduces the content of the heavy metals of seeds and the oil. The oil from the control, as well as the oils obtained by processing the seeds from the variants with addition of compost and vermicompost, does not contain Cd, while Pb and Zn have values below the permissible limit values. The rape is a plant which is tolerant to heavy metals, can be grown in heavy metal polluted soils, and can be successfully used in the phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soils. The possibility of further industrial processing of seeds to oil and using the obtained oil will make rapeseed economically interesting crops for farmers of phytoremediation technology. 
phytoremediation; heavy metals; rapeseed; organic amendments