Studying Efficiency of Basil Plant in Removal of Mercury Metal from Aqueous Solution

Today disposal wastewater containing mercury is a critical concern. Phytoremediation technique become well-known due to its cost-effectiveness and there is no need for advanced equipment and expert people. Basil is the best plant to alleviate heavy metal contamination and could be used as a reservoir plant in polluted area’s soil. The aim of this study was evaluating the possibility of reduction and removal of Mercury as a heavy metal from contaminated wastewater using phytoremediation approach with basil. In this study five levels of Mercury nitrate (0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 10mg/L) were examined on basil with 3 replications. Then sampling was performed from waters under pots, basil plant organs (root, stem, leaf) and pot soils. Collected samples were analyzed further. It could be found that by increasing mercury concentration, removal percentage of mercury from under-pot water increased, as the highest removal percentage in 10mg/L was 97%. The highest mercury residue percentage related to removal percentage in 10mg/L was equal to 98% and the lowest value was 0.5 mg/L mercury by 13%. In 10mg/L the highest residue percentage for mercury was observed in stem with 92% and the lowest percentage was observed in leaves with 42%. Totally, stem and leaves had lower mercury residue than roots. In conclusion, the feasibility of removing mercury from the basil plant is justified and could applied as an innovative and promising approach to alleviate mercury ion from industrial wastewater.