Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234

Chemical methods and phytoremediation of soil contaminated

with heavy metals
H.M. Chen *, C.R. Zheng, C. Tu, Z.G. Shen
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 821, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China

Abstract

The e€ects of chemical amendments (calcium carbonate (CC), steel sludge (SS) and furnace slag (FS)) on the growth
and uptake of cadmium (Cd) by wetland rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat grown in a red soil contaminated with Cd
were investigated using a pot experiment. The phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil with vetiver grass
was also studied in a ®eld plot experiment. Results showed that treatments with CC, SS and FS decreased Cd uptake by
wetland rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat by 23±95% compared with the unamended control. Among the three
amendments, FS was the most ecient at suppresing Cd uptake by the plants, probably due to its higher content of
available silicon (Si). The concentrations of zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and Cd in the shoots of vetiver grass were 42±67%, 500±
1200% and 120±260% higher in contaminated plots than in control, respectively. Cadmium accumulation by vetiver
shoots was 218 g Cd/ha at a soil Cd concentration of 0.33 mg Cd/kg. It is suggested that heavy metal-contaminated soil
could be remediated with a combination of chemical treatments and plants. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
reserved.

1. Introduction the Zhangshi irrigation area of China, large amounts of

Cd have accumulated in irrigated soils since irrigation
Heavy metal pollution of soils is increasingly be- sewage contains large amounts of Cd (Wu et al., 1986).
coming a global problem with the development of in- The cadmium content in rice grain, in turn, is also rel-
dustry, mining activity, irrigation of waste water and the atively high. It was shown that the Cd content in viscera
application of sewage sludge, even if it is relatively lo- of pigs in the sewage irrigation area is signi®cantly
calized at present. The soil±plant system is the funda- higher than that of the control owing to higher Cd in
mental constructive unit of the geosphere and biosphere. rice bran and husk used as pig feed. It was recorded that
Therefore, heavy metal pollution of soil has an impor- in the irrigation area, Cd in the placenta was 2.4, and
tant in¯uence not only on the yield and quality of crops, the liver and kidney of fetus 2.2 than that of the
but also on the quality of atmospheric and aquatic en- control, which indicates that Cd pollution might also be
vironment, and even on the health of human beings via transferred to the next generation via maternity (Wu
food chains, as in the classic example of `itai±itai' disease et al., 1986). Soil pollution by heavy metals has aroused
in Japan, which was traced to the consumption mostly worldwide attention. Studies of heavy metal pollution in
of rice and soybean grown in an environment heavily soil have included the sources and behaviour of heavy
polluted with Cd from a nearby mine and smelter metals, impacts on public health and the environment,
(Yamagata and Shigematsu, 1970, Kobayashi, 1970). In site investigation and analysis, management of remedial
action and risk assessment, and the techniques for
remediation and so on (Lepp, 1981a,b; Assink and van
den Brink, 1986; Wise and Trantolo, 1994; Salomons
*
Corresponding author. and Stigliani, 1995; Salomons et al., 1995; Brooks, 1998;

0045-6535/00/$ - see front matter Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 5 - 6 5 3 5 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 4 1 5 - 4
230 H.M. Chen et al. / Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234

Chen, 1996). E€ective methods for reducing soil heavy aestivum L.) were grown in rotation with rice initially.
metal pollution involve severe control of pollution The test period was 3 crop cycles about 1 year. The
sources or strict implementation of environmental experiment design in details was showed elsewhere
regulation in terms of waste discharge. Since the 1980s, (Zang et al., 1987).
much e€ort has been made to control pollution sources
and to set up environmental quality standards in China. 2.2. Field experiment
Some countermeasures for remediation of soil contam-
inated with heavy metals have been investigated in- A ®eld plot experiment was conducted at the Eco-
cluding soil moisture management, amendment logical Experimental Station of Red Soil, Chinese
application, addition of organic manure, selection of Academy of Science, Yingtan, Jangxi Province. Each
crop varieties with a low uptake of heavy metals, and plot of 4 m2 was separated by a cement ¯at. The total
agro-ecological engineering techniques (Chen and soil concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn determined
Wang, 1992; Chen et al., 1999). The present paper re- are shown in Table 4, which are the typical and repre-
ports the e€ects of application of calcium carbonate sentative for soils contaminated with heavy metals in the
(CC), steel sludge (SS) and furnace slag (FS) for red soil area of red soils. Fertilizers were applied at a rate of
contaminated with Cd on the uptake of Cd by wetland 37.5 g/m2 urea, 75 g/m2 superphosphate, and 18.75 g/m2
rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat, as well as the results of potassium chloride. Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides)
phytoremediation with vetiver, a perennial grass with was transplanted on 9 April 1997. The vetiver shoots
high biomass, for red soil contaminated with Cd, Cu, above 20 cm from the ground were cut for analysis of
Pb, and Zn. relative biomass and the concentrations of Cd on day
110 after transplanting. Their residual parts were grown
continuously.
2. Materials and methods
2.3. Analytical methods
2.1. Pot experiment
Soil sample were taken from pot and ®eld plot. The
Red soil (an Oxisol) was collected from Jinghua, samples were air-dried and ground prior to analysis. Soil
Zhijang Province, with a pH 5.2 and 11.4 g/Kg of or- available Si was extracted by H2 C2 O4 ±…NH4 †2 C2 O4 (pH
ganic matter. The soil was air-dried, crushed, mixed 3.2) and determined colorimetrically (Institute of Soil
thoroughly and passed through a 1 cm sieve. 1.5 kg Science, Chinese Academy of Science, 1978). Total metal
portions of the soil were transferred to 2 l porcelain pots contents were determined with atomic absorption spec-
and treated with necessary amounts of fertilizer at a rate troscopy (AAS) using ¯ame or ¯ameless mode following
of 0.5 g superphosphate, 1.0 g urea, and 0.2 g potassium HF±HNO3 ±HClO4 digestion procedures (Wei, 1992).
chloride, and then mixed well. Cadmium was added at a Plant materials for heavy metal analysis were har-
rate of 7.0 mg Cd/kg as an aqueous solution of vested after mature (for wetland rice and wheat), or at a
CdCl2
H2 O, and mixed again. Three days later, the certain growth period (for Chinese cabbage and vetiver).
chemical remediation treatments (three replicates) were The harvested plants were ®rst rinsed with tap water and
carried out using the di€erent chemical amendments then with distilled water, dried at 70°C for 48 h, and
shown in Table 1. Wetland rice (Oryza sativa L.), Chi- then ground with an electric mill. Plant materials were
nese cabbage (Brassica sinica), and wheat (Triticum analyzed for the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn

Table 1
Treatments and basic characteristics of di€erent amendments used in the experiment
No. Amendmenta Treatment amount (w/w)% Basic characteristics of amendment
1 CC 0.2 Chemical reagent
2 0.4
3 SS 0.2 17.4% (Fe+FeO+Fe2 O3 ), 53.1% CaO
4 0.4 8.7% SiO2 , 2.6% MgO; <0.21mm
5 0.6 8% SiO2 extracted with 0.5 mol/l HCl
6 FS 0.2 52% CaO, 32% SiO2
7 0.4 <0.25 mm; 23% extracted SiO2
8 0.6 with 0.5 mol/l HCl
a
CC: calcium carbonate; SS: steel sludge, from Lingyu steel plant, Hunan Province; FS: furnace slag, from no. 2 steel and iron plant,
Nanjing.
 H.M. Chen et al. / Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234 231

using AAS following HNO3 ±HClO4 digestion (Envi- In summary, the addition of chemical amendments
ronmental Protection Agency of China, 1999). can alleviate Cd toxicity and increase yields of Chinese
cabbage and wheat, except in the ®rst cropping season,
where rice yield was decreased by the addition of calci-
um carbonate and steel sludge. As mentioned above, the
3. Results and discussion
treatments of furnace slag had no signi®cant e€ect on
the relative yield. It is certain however, that furnace slag
3.1. E€ect of chemical amendments on the growth of is the best chemical amendment for the remediation of
plants soil contaminated with Cd from the point of view of
plant yields and Cd concentration in plants (Table 3)
The e€ect of chemical amendment on the yields of under the experimental conditions employed.
wetland rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat are shown in
Table 2. The results showed that the growth of wetland 3.2. E€ect of amendments on the uptake of Cd by plants
rice was most a€ected by the addition of chemical
amendments. The e€ects, however, were very di€erent The chemical amendments employed were very e-
amongst treatments. Addition of calcium carbonate re- cient at reducing Cd uptake. For brown rice, the Cd
duced yields of straw and grain of rice by 37±41% and concentration ranged from 4.13 mg/kg for the control to
48±56%, respectively. The ratio of straw to grain in- 0.32±0.35 mg/kg for the treatments with furnace slag
creased from 1.38 in the control to 1.69 for adding 0.2%, (Table 3). The concentrations were also markedly af-
and 1.87 for adding 0.4% calcium carbonate treatments fected by added calcium carbonate and steel sludge. The
due to a delay of crop maturity. Addition of 0.2% steel Cd concentration in brown rice was signi®cantly reduced
sludge increased yield of rice grain, but 0.4% and 0.6% by 33.0±96.3% by the addition of chemical amendments.
steel sludge decreased yield. The addition of furnace slag This may have resulted from the increase of pH and
had no signi®cant e€ect on straw and grain yields of rice available Si and Cd ®xation in soils (Chen, 1988).
(Table 2). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed the fol-
Table 2 shows that addition of chemical amendments lowing relationship among Cd concentrations in brown
increased the yield of Chinese cabbage because they rice, pH and available Si in the soil:
signi®cantly increased soil pH and improved the growth
conditions. The lower yield of the control may be related Y1 ˆ 18:54 ÿ 0:6352 …Si† ÿ 2:1531 …pH†
to the low soil pH and a low tolerance of Chinese cab- ‡ 0:0812 …Si  pH† …1†
bage to acid conditions as well as to the toxicity of Cd in
the control with high Cd concentration (Table 3). Ad- with R21 as 0.630 …P < 0:001† and where Y1 is Cd con-
dition of chemical amendments had bene®cial e€ects on centration in brown rice (mg/kg), (Si) and (Si  pH) are
the growth of plants because all treatments with available Si in soil (SiO2 , mg/100 g soil) and the inter-
amendments had a higher yield than the control. action of pH and available Si, respectively. Eq. (1)

Table 2
E€ect of amendments on yield of plants (expressed as % yield of control)a
Treatment Rice straw Rice grain Chinese cabbage Wheat straw Wheat grain
CK
100a 100ab 100e 100b 100b
CC
0.2% 62.9c 51.7c 673a 117a 125a
0.4% 59.0c 43.6c 543b 111ab 116ab
SS
0.2% 82.9b 105ab 391d 100b 108b
0.4% 77.6b 84.6b 614ab 100b 114ab
0.6% 72.7bc 81.9b 662a 121a 127a
FS
0.2% 94.1ab 120a 479c 105b 127a
0.4% 110a 102ab 539b 113ab 114ab
0.6% 103a 99.3ab 651a
a
Means followed by the same letter within columns are not signi®cantly di€erent at the 5% probability level by least signi®cant range
(Tukey method).
232 H.M. Chen et al. / Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234

Table 3
E€ect of chemical amendments on Cd concentration in plantsa
Treatment Brown rice Relative Cabbage Relative Wheat Relative pH Available
(mg/kg) concentration (mg/kg) concentration (mg/kg) concentration Sib
(%) (%) (%)
CK
4.13a 100 148a 100 8.99a 100 5.50 12.5
CC
0.2% 3.18b 77.0 50.9b 34.5 7.07b 78.6 6.83 23.0
0.4% 2.54bc 61.5 27.4c 18.6 4.17cd 46.4 7.32 24.0
SS
0.2% 2.91b 70.5 63.7b 43.2 7.92ab 88.1 6.75 20.0
0.4% 1.77c 42.9 29.7c 20.2 5.31c 59.1 7.11 23.0
0.6% 0.42d 10.2 20.0c 13.6 3.76d 41.2 7.48 23.8
FS
0.2% 0.32d 7.7 35.3c 24.0 6.69b 74.4 6.58 29.1
0.4% 0.34d 8.2 26.0c 17.6 5.09c 56.6 7.00 50.2
0.6% 0.35d 8.5 21.6c 14.6 4.56cd 50.7 7.22 55.0
a
Means followed by the same letter within columns are not signi®cantly di€erent at the 5% probability level by least signi®cant range
(Tukey method).
b
Unit: mg SiO2 /100 g soil.

showed that the Cd concentration in brown rice was with R23 as 0.586 …P < 0:001† and where Y3 is Cd con-
markedly a€ected by available Si in soil, soil pH, and centration in brown rice (mg/kg), and for chinese
interaction of available Si and pH. cabbage
Cadmium concentration of Chinese cabbage ranged
from 20.0 mg/kg at 0.6% steel sludge to 148 mg/kg for Y4 ˆ 559:06 ÿ 0:6076 …Si† ÿ 71:60 …pH† …4†
the control. The aftere€ects of chemical amendments
added to the soil on the concentration of Cd in Chinese with R24 as 0.879 …P < 0:001† and where Y4 is Cd con-
cabbage were also very marked. FS, SS and CC treat- centration in Chinese cabbage (mg/kg). If we set up
ments decreased the concentration of Cd by 81.3%, available Si in soil as 25 mg SiO2 /100 g soil pH as 7.0,
74.3% and 73.4%, respectively (Table 3). A simple cor- then comparing Eqs. (1) and (3), as well as Eqs. (2) and
relation analysis indicated signi®cant e€ects of pH on (4), the results indicate that the e€ectiveness of remedi-
Cd concentration in Chinese cabbage …r ˆ 0:943; ation with chemical amendments would be underesti-
n ˆ 25†. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed mated by 5% for wetland rice and 10% for chinese
the following relationship among Cd concentrations in cabbage without the consideration of the interaction
Chinese cabbage, pH and available Si in soil aspect in the equation.
For wheat, the next crop of Chinese cabbage, Cd
Y2 ˆ 950:8 ÿ 25:76 …Si† ÿ 127:1 …pH† ‡ 3:553 …Si  pH† concentration ranged from 3.76 mg/kg at 0.6% addition
…2† of steel sludge to 8.99 mg/kg for control (Table 3). The
concentrations were also signi®cantly a€ected by added
with R22 as 0.960 …P < 0:001†. Eq. (2) suggests the same chemical amendments. A simple correlation analysis
tendency as for Cd in wetland rice. indicated signi®cant e€ects of pH …r ˆ ÿ0:84; n ˆ 25†
Research into interactions in environmental science is and available Si in soil …r ˆ ÿ0:52; n ˆ 25†. Stepwise
very important (Chen and Zheng, 1996). E€ects of in- multiple regression analysis, however, revealed the fol-
teraction of available Si and pH on the concentration of lowing relationship among Cd concentration in wheat
Cd in brown rice and Chinese cabbage suggested that grain and pH and available Si in the soil
the function of remediation of soil contaminated with
heavy metals by chemical amendments could be erro- Table 4
neous if the interaction between these factors is ne- Total heavy metal concentration in soil used in the ®eld plot
glected. For example, stepwise multiple regression experiment (mg/kg dry soil)
analysis showed the following relationship between Cd Item Cd Cu Pb Zn
concentration in brown rice and available Si and soil pH
CK 0.006 20.4 32.5 60.8
neglecting the interaction
Plot 1 0.33 58.8 158 112
Y3 ˆ 9:58 ÿ 0:0601 …Si† ÿ 0:8837 …pH† …3† Plot 2 0.95 118 367 173
 H.M. Chen et al. / Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234 233

Table 5
Concentrations of heavy metals in vetiver shoots (mg/kg dry matter) and accumulation factors (AF)
Item Cd AF Cu AF Pb AF Zn AF
CK 0.03 5.0 3.21 0.16 0.27 0.01 7.17 0.12
Plot 1 0.22 0.67 3.80 0.06 6.84 0.04 20.1 0.18
Plot 2 0.15 0.16 4.20 0.04 3.48 0.01 26.3 0.15

Y5 ˆ 24:57 ÿ 2:71 …pH† …5† Cd concentration down to background value, from 0.33
to 0.006 mg/kg. VGT is an e€ective low-cost and envi-
with R25 as 0.698 …P < 0:001† and Y5 is the concentration ronmentally friendly technology to clean Cd contami-
of Cd in wheat grain (mg/kg). The results indicate that nated soil before it is replaced by a hyperaccumulator.
the e€ect of available Si and interaction of pH and Plants that can hyperaccumulate heavy metals are a very
available Si did not signi®cantly a€ect the concentration attractive phytoremediation option (Brooks, 1998), if
of Cd in wheat grain compared to pH. Table 3 also the low biomass can be improved. A suggestion derived
shows that the residual e€ect of chemical amendments from this study: is there any possibility to transfer the
on concentration of Cd in wheat grain reduced with genes of hyperaccumulator to vetiver that with very high
time, and there was no di€erence between di€erent biomass? If so, the new plant variety with a gene com-
treatments. However, by reducing the Cd concentration bination to hyperaccumulate heavy metals and with high
in these plants by amendments even the residual actions biomass will bring a revolutionary progress in phyto-
were much less than in wetland rice and Chinese cab- remediation technology.
bage (cf. Table 3).

4. Conclusions
3.3. E€ectiveness of phytoremediation with vetiver
Based upon the present studies it can be concluded
It is likely that Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) will
that:
become one of the leading biological systems of soil and
1. The chemical amendments, calcium carbonate, steel
water conservation, land rehabilitation, and enbank-
sludge, and furnace slag, may reduce the concentra-
ment stabilization in the 21st century (Grimshaw, 1997;
tion of Cd in brown rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat
Xu, 1997). In China, there have been increasing con-
grain. The most e€ective is furnace slag from a com-
cerns about the VGT, and vetiver has been grown in
bined evaluation of the e€ect on plant yields and Cd
most of the southern and coastal provinces of China.
concentration in plants.
Moreover, vetiver is also able to tolerate a variety of
2. The interaction of factors in¯uencing the e€ectiveness
pollutants in soil and water (Truong and Baker, 1998;
of remediation should be considered.
Truong and Baker, 1997; Pinthong et al., 1998; Zheng
3. Preliminary results suggest that vetiver grass has a
et al., 1998). The present results showed that vetiver can
relatively greater ability to remove Cd, Pb and Zn
grow well in soil contaminated with Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn
from soil, and further study is needed on how to treat
(Table 4), although high concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb
the harvested materials.
and Zn in the shoots of vetiver were found (Table 5).
4. A combination of chemical treatment and phyto-
The Cd accumulation factors, de®ned as the ratio of
remediation could solve the problem of soil polluted
shoot Cd concentration to the total Cd concentration in
with heavy metals.
soil, were 0.67 and 0.16 in plot 1 and plot 2, respectively.
These values were close to those of hyperaccumulator
Thlaspi caerulescens (Baker et al., 1994). The average dry
matter yield of vetiver is 99 t/ha/year in southeast of Acknowledgements
China (Zhang, 1998). Cadmium accumulation by veti-
ver, with a total above-ground uptake of 218 g/ha at a These studies were jointly supported by the Na-
soil Cd concentration of 0.33 mg/kg in plot 1, was tional Science Foundation of China (49771048;
greater than that by hyperaccumulator T.caerulescens, 49631010); State Ministry of Science and Technology,
with an uptake of 143 g/ha at a soil Cd concentration of China (96-920-13-03); Ecological Experiment Station of
13.6 mg/kg (Baker et al., 1994). If it is assumed that Red Soil and Laboratory of Material Cycling in Ped-
subsequent crops would remove Cd at the same rate as osphere, Chinese Academy of Science; and the China
the ®rst crop, about four croppings with this vetiver Vetiver Network. The authors also want to extend
would be required to extract the excess loading of Cd great thanks to the anonymous referee for the invalu-
(729 g/ha) in the experimental soil to bring the total soil able comments.
234 H.M. Chen et al. / Chemosphere 41 (2000) 229±234

References Lepp, N.W., 1981b. E€ect of heavy metal pollution on plants.

In: Metals in the Environment, vol. 2. Applied Science
Assink, J.W., van den Brink, W.J. (Ed.), 1986. Contaminated Publishers, London, p. 257.
Soil. Martinus Nijho€ Publishers, Dordrecht, The Nether- Pinthong, J., Impithuksa, S., Ramlee, A., 1998. The capability
lands, p. 923. of vetiver hedgerows in decontamination of agrochemical
Baker, A.J.M., McGrath, S.P., Sidoli, C.M.D., Reeves, R.D., residues: a case study on the production of cabbage at Nong
1994. The possibility if in situ heavy metal decontamination Hoi Development Center. In: Proceedings of the First
of polluted soils using crops of metal-accumulating plants. International Conference on Vetiver. Chiang Rai, Thailand,
Resources Conservation and Recycling 11, 41±49. pp. 91±98.
Baker, A.J.M., Reeves R.D., Hajar, A.S.M., 1994. Heavy metal Salomons, W., Forstner, U., Mader, P., 1995. Heavy Metals:
accumulation and tolerance in British populations of the Problems and Solutions. Springer, Berlin, p. 412.
metallophyte Thlaspi caerulescens. J. & C. Presl (Brassica- Salomons, W., Stigliani, W.M., 1995. Biogeodynamics of
ceae). New Phytologist 127, 61±68. Pollutants in Soil and Sediments. Springer, Berlin, p. 352.
Brooks, R.R., 1998. Plants that Hyperaccumulate Heavy Truong, P., Baker, D., 1997. The role of vetiver grass in the
Metals: Their Role in Phytoremediation, Microbiology, rehabilitation of toxic and contaminated lands in australia.
Archaeology, Mineral Exploration and Phytomining. CAB International Vetiver Workshop, Fuzhou, China, pp. 21±26.
International, Wallingford, UK, p. 380. Truong, P., Baker, D., 1998. Vetiver grass system for environ-
Chen, H.M., 1988. Several factors a€ecting the sorption of mental protection. Paci®c Rim Vetiver Network: Technical
cadmium by soils. Soils 20, 131±136. Bulletin no. 1, 1998/1, Bangkok, Thailand.
Chen, H.M., 1996. Heavy Metal Pollution in Soil±Plant Wei, F.S., 1992. Modern Analytical Methods of Soil Elements.
System. Science Press, Beijing, p. 344. Chinese Environ. Sci. Press, Beijing, p. 64.
Chen, H.M., Wang, H.K., 1992. Research progress in biological Wise, D.L., Trantolo, D.J., 1994. Remediation of Hazardous
e€ect of heavy metal pollution in agricultural environment. Waste Contaminated Soils. Marcel Dekker, New York,
In: Selected Papers on Pollutants and their Biological E€ect p. 929.
in Environment. Science Press, Beijing, pp. 529±541. Wu, Y.Y., Chen, T., Zheng, X.X., 1986. Study on Cd-pollution
Chen, H.M., Zheng, C.R., 1996. Heavy metals in the soil± ecology in Zhangshi irrigated area of Shenyang. In: Gao,
water±plant system: importance of interactions. In: Paw- Z.M. (Ed.), Studies on Pollution Ecology of Soil±Plant
lowske, L., Lacy, W.J., Uchrin, C.G., Dudzinska, M.R. System. China Science and Technology Press, Beijing,
(Eds.), Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment 2. pp. 295±301.
Plenum Press, New York, pp. 311±318. Xu, L., 1997. Recent development of vetiver technology in
Chen, H.M., Zheng, C.R., Tu, C., Zhu, Y.G., 1999. Heavy China Vetiver Network (CVN). Vetiver Newsletter 1, 8±12.
metals pollution in soils in China: status and countermea- Yamagata, N., Shigematsu, I., 1970. Cadmium pollution in
sures. Ambio 28, 130±134. perspective. Bulletin of the Institute of Public Health 19,
Environmental Protection Agency of China, Monitoring and 1±27.
Analytical Methods of Environment. Chinese Environ. Sci. Zhang, J., 1998. Bene®t and application future of sandy
Press, Beijing, pp. 352±354. soils on windy Pingtan island. In: Vetiver Rsearch and
Grimshaw, R.G., 1997. Vetiver grass technology and its Development. Agriculture Sci. and Tech. Press, China,
application in China. Vetiver Newsletter 1, 4±6. pp. 179±191.
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Science, 1978. Zang, H.L., Zheng, C.R., Chen, H.M., 1987. Study on
Analytical Methods on Physical and chemical Properties of controlling cadmium absorption by crops in cadmium
Soils. Shanghai Sci. Tech. Press, pp. 283±284. contamination soil (I). Agro-Environmental Protection
Kobayashi, J., 1970. Relation between the `itai±itai' disease and 6 (3), 27±29.
the pollution of river water by cadmium from a mine. In: Zheng, C.R., Tu, C., Chen, H.M., 1998. Preliminary experiment
Internatinal Association on Water pollution Research. I-25/ on puri®cation of eutrophic water with vetiver. In: Vetiver
1±25/8. Research and Development. Agriculture Sci. and Tech.
Lepp, N.W., 1981a. E€ect of heavy metal pollution on plants. Press, China, pp. 81±84.
In: E€ects of Trace Metals on Plant Function, vol. 1.
Applied Science Publishers, London, p. 352.