Evaluation of Hibiscus Cannabinus for Phytoremediation of soils contaminated with zinc and lead

Contamination of the biosphere by heavy metals has increased sharply at the beginning of the 20th century, posing major problem to environmental and human health
problems. A pot experiment employing factorial experiment with two type of heavy metal (Pb and Zn), two level of concentration (Oppm and 100ppm) and two level of biochar (Og and 15g) was conducted in a greenhouse using contaminated soils as the growing medium. Result showed that Zn and Pb was found in the leaves, stem and roots
of kenaf. Kenaf seedlings grown in soil contaminated with heavy metals (Zn and Pb) showed growth improvement in terms of biomass. Addition of biochar to soil was either
increase or decrease the growth, depending on availability of heavy metal elements in soil media. For soil contaminated with Pb, greater uptake ability was found in the root system and hence the restriction of upward movement (translocation<1). In contrast, with Zn-
contaminated soil, higher uptake ability was given by the aboveground pans and was efficient in extracting and translocation of Zn (tra.nslocation>l). Therefore it can be safely concluded that kenaf is a potentially suitable species for phytoremediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals such as zinc and lead.