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Khalid N, Noman A, Nazir A, Tufail A, Hadayat N, Alzuaibr FM, Ikram S, Akhter N, Hussain M, Aqeel M. Nerium oleander could be used for sustainable management of traffic-borne elemental-enriched roadside soils. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:40551-40562. [PMID: 36622593 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-25160-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Metal pollutants released from motor vehicles are deposited in roadside environments. Metals are non-biodegradable and biomagnify in the food chain causing significant health hazards at all levels of the ecosystem. Hence, management of contaminated roadside verges is critically important and should be kept in mind while planning specific management strategies of such areas. Native vegetation could help to decontaminate heavy metal polluted soils in the best sustainable way. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the potential of Nerium oleander to accumulate heavy metals commonly released by automobiles such as Pb, Cd, Ni, and Zn along with various C and N compounds from five different locations along a busy road in Punjab, Pakistan, during summer and winter seasons. N. oleander showed the ability to absorb C, N, and heavy metals Pb and Cd; the maximum concentration of Pb and Cd was 8.991 mg kg-1 and 0.599 mg kg-1, respectively. These pollutants negatively affected photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange attributes, soluble proteins, and free amino acids. But antioxidant activity of N. oleander was found to be increased in both seasons. The metal accumulation in the plant was higher in the summer though. We highly recommend that by growing N. oleander at roadside verges for decontamination of vehicular pollutants could lead to sustainable management of these corridors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noreen Khalid
- Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
| | - Ali Noman
- Department of Botany, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Atia Nazir
- Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Aasma Tufail
- Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, 54770, Pakistan
| | - Naila Hadayat
- Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, 54770, Pakistan
| | | | - Sobia Ikram
- Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
- School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia
| | - Noreen Akhter
- Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
| | - Mumtaz Hussain
- Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Aqeel
- Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China.
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