Bioindication of heavy metals with aquatic macrophytes: the case of a stream polluted with power plant sewages in Poland.

The Kozi Brod (left tributary of the Biala Przemsza, east of Katowice) flows in a highly industrial coal-mining area dominated by the power plant of Siersza. Concentrations of the microelements nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), barium (Ba), aluminum (Al), vanadium (V), and strontium (Sr), as well as the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and sulfur (S), were measured in water and plants of the Kozi Brod. The collected plants were: Myosotis palustris L. Nathorst, Galium palustre L., Mentha rotundifolia L. Huds., Mentha aquatica L., Berula erecta (Huds.) Coville, Cardamine amara L., Epilobium angustifolium L., Geranium palustre L., Lysimachia vulgaris L., Crepis paludosa L. Much., Calitriche verna L., Solanum dulcamara L., and the aquatic moss Hygrohypnum ochraceum (Turn.) Loesk. These plants were used to evaluate the spatial distribution of elements in the Kozi Brod and contained elevated levels of Co, Cd, Zn, Ni, Mn, Al, Pb, and Cu. Significant correlations between concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Mn in water and plants indicate the potential of these species for pollution monitoring.