Take Lead out of Flint Water: Cilantro as a Heavy Metal Biosorbent

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this study is to verify that cilantro is an effective biosorbent for lead contaminated water. Methods/Materials For my experiment, I chose to use hydroponics systems. These modules were easy to use, they could be left running without constant supervision, and they were consistent in the cycling of nutrients around the plant roots. I used 3 systems, so I could spot any outliers. The plants I chose were basil, cilantro, and savory, and I used 3 of each plants to have some margin for error. The control was the beginning lead water content and the variables are the different plants. Results Cilantro root, at the fresh form, has nearly the same lead content as the water at that time (~1.92 ppm). There seems to be a near equilibrium of roots and water. The starting lead content was 4.04ppm, after the experiment, about 52.5% was absorbed by various plants. Leaves have the lowest lead content. Conclusions/Discussion The following conclusions were drawn from my research: 1. The plants are absorbing lead as expected; cilantro acted as an effective absorbent. 2. The lead content in the liquid samples reduced by more than 50% percent, proving that the lead is absorbed by plants. 3. Cilantro roots have the most lead concentration. Cilantro could be used as an absorbent, but the roots would need to be removed from either the holding tank or the farm with contamination. 4. After sending my conclusions to Professor Day for a second opinion, I realized that the vacuoles in the cells might have absorbed the lead before it could have traveled into the leaves. That could explain the relatively low concentrations of lead in the leaves of the trial plants. 6. The concentration of the lead was highest in the cilantro roots, nearly at equilibrium with the lead solution. It would be good to have another round of tests to find results for other roots of the plants. 7. The lead looked as if it was mainly stored inside of the cilantro root#s vacuoles. On all of the plants, very little of the lead was inside of the leaves and stem.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Environmental Engineering · Entry J1121

Resources

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