title: The relation between polyaromatic hydrocarbon concentration in sewage sludge and its uptake by plants: Phragmites communis, Polygonum persicaria and Bidens tripartita.
abstract: The aim of the study was to define the relationship between the concentration of PAHs in sewage sludge at a particular location and their amount in various plant materials growing on it. The credibility of the results is enhanced by the fact that sewage sludge from two separate sewage-treatment plants were selected for their influence on the content of PAHs in three plant species growing on them. The investigations were carried out for a period of three years. The results demonstrated unequivocally that the uptake of PAHs by a plant depended on polyaromatic hydrocarbon concentration in the sewage sludge. The correlation between accumulation coefficient of PAH in a plant and the content of the same PAH in the sewage sludge had for three-, four- and five-ring hydrocarbons an exponential character and for six-ring hydrocarbons was of a linear character. The accumulation coefficients calculated for three-ring aromatics were several times higher than for four-ring PAHs; further the coefficient values calculated for five-ring PAHs were several times lower than for four-ring hydrocarbons. Finally, the accumulation coefficient values of six-ring PAHs were the lowest in the series of studied polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gworek
authors.affiliation: Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, Department of Soil Environment Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Klimczak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kijeńska
mesh_terms: D065567:Absorption, Physiological; D031176:Bidens / Q000378:metabolism*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D028502:Polygonum / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012722:Sewage