A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine
Cr
$^{+3}$
and Cr
$^{+6}$
uptake capacity of
Scirpus mucronatus. The selected macrophytes were transferred to the laboratory
containing nutrient solution enriched separately with 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0 and 16
mg/L of K
$_2$
Cr
$_2$
O
$_7$
and
Cr(NO
$_3$
)
$_3$
and were separately harvested
after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days. The bioaccumulation study showed a linear
relationship between chromium uptake with the exposure time (2-10 days). The
calculated linear regression coefficients (R
$^2$
) between
uptake and exposure time were found to be in the range of 0.577-0.800 and
0.972-0.994 for Cr
$^{+6}$
and Cr
$^{+3}$
respectively. In both the experiments, the concentration of chromium was found
to be higher in the roots than the shoots of S. mucronatus. The maximum
accumulation, bioconcentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) value
were calculated at 2343.6 μg/g dry weight, 489 and 0.33 for
Cr
$^{+3}$
and 1044 μg/g dry weight, 1034 and 0.68 for
Cr
$^{+6}$
, respectively. S. mucronatus has the ability to
accumulate Cr
$^{+6}$
from the surrounding water with a BCF
value >10
$^2$
but poorly translocate
Cr
$^{+3}$
and Cr
$^{+6}$
(TF < 1) to the
aerial parts.
