Phytoremediation of industrial wastewater containing nitrates, nitroglycerin, and nitroglycol

Experiments focused on evaluating the ability of three aquatic plant species (sweet flag, common reed, and broadleaf cattail) to decontaminate industrial wastewater effluents from a nitroglycerin and nitroglycol production factory were carried out in the framework of this study. Toxicity of a nitrate-rich wastewater toward the studied plant species was determined by measurement of plant biomass gain, and subsequent mathematical modeling allowed for assessment of IC50 values. The studied plant species were cultivated in hydroponic cultures containing 1,500 mg/l of nitrates, 2.4 mg/l of nitroglycerin, and 1.0 mg/l of nitroglycol for 21 days, during which the decontamination efficiency of each nitrogen-based compound was analyzed. It was observed that the application of sweet flag and common reed contributed to a high nitrate removal efficiency (82 and 79%, accordingly). Sweet flag also was most efficient for decontamination of nitroglycerin (87%) and nitroglycol (42%), but the removal of the former compound was preferential.