Performance of new biodegradable chelants in enhancing phytoextraction of heavy metals from a contaminated calcareous soil.

Chelant-assisted phytoextraction has widely been exploited as a feasible option for removing heavy metals from the contaminated soils. Some synthetic chelants have shown promising performances for this option, but they have also revealed several negative environmental consequences. This study has sought to investigate the feasibility of two biodegradable eco-friendly chelants, namely methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA) and N,N-Bis(carboxymethyl)-L-glutamic acid (GLDA), as compared to the resistant ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), in enhancing phytoextraction of Zn and Pb from a contaminated calcareous soil. For this purpose, a greenhouse experiment was carried out comparing the growth and metal absorption of maize (Zea mays L.) grown on soils treated with EDTA, MGDA, and GLDA chelants at 2, 4 and 8 mmol kg- 1 levels. Results showed that the heavy metal uptakes by the plant shoots generally increased with increasing the chelant application level. Pb uptake by maize shoots increased from 10.6 mg plant- 1 in control to 416, 398, and 416 mg plant- 1 in the soils treated with 8 mmol kg- 1 MGDA, GLDA, and EDTA, respectively. The corresponding increases in Zn uptake were from 100.9 mg plant- 1 to 798.9, 718.9, and 530.4 mg plant- 1 in the MGDA-, GLDA-, and EDTA-amended soils, respectively. Moreover, the amounts of water-extractable, and thereby potentially leachable, Pb and Zn in the post-harvest soil were considerably greater in the soil treated with EDTA than those treated with MGDA and GLDA. Therefore, MGDA and GLDA would be potential alternatives to environmentally-persistent EDTA for enhanced metal phytoextraction from contaminated soils. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.