Potentialities of Medicinal Indigenous taxa for accumulation of macro- and micro elements increasing nearby Abu-Tartur phosphate mining ore, Egypt

Abstract Background and Aims Some wild taxa (Astragalus vogalii, Sesbania sesban, Trigonella hamosa, Melilotus indicus, Senna italica, Bidens pilosa and Conyza bonariensis) growing around Abu-Tartur phosphate mining ore in Egypt, were conducted to identify species accumulation of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Se, B, Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, Ag, Si and Na in plants and soils. Methods These metals levels were measured by atomic spectroscopy techniques, including flame-AAS, GF-AAS, and ICP-AES. Results The bioavailability of trace elements to plants was affected by soil factors such as soil pH, organic matter (OM) content. Soil considered alkali soil (pH range from 7.4- 8.6) with low organic contents (1.26-1.80 %). By comparing the soil content around the phosphate mining area in the Western Desert as part of the extremely dry deserts range with the ideal agricultural soil content of macronutrients, it was found that there were low contents of them. Bioconcentration Factor, Translocation Factor (TF), Biological Accumulation Coefficient (BAC) and element accumulation index (EAI) were calculated for the studied metals associated with phosphate mining process. BF and BAC for all metals are more than unity. Conclusion Our study showed that these native plants with a high BF and low (TF) and have the potential for phytostabilization and will be used in phytoremediation of the metallic pollutants in soils after further research in accumulation mechanism of phosphate mining spoils.