Water hyacinths as pollution monitors.Water hyacinths as pollution meters Measuring the pollution levels of heavy metals heavy metals, n.pl metallic compounds, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Exposure to these metals has been linked to immune, kidney, and neurotic disorders. in rivers can often be tricky, but hydrologists may have found a potential tool in the form of water hyacinths, report Barbara C. Scudder and Harry V. Leland from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif. In a study of a hyacinth Hyacinth, in Greek mythology Hyacinth (hī`əsĭnth) or Hyacinthus (hīəsĭn`thəs), in Greek mythology, beautiful youth loved by Apollo. species growing in California's San Joaquin River San Joaquin River River, central California, U.S. Formed by forks rising in the Sierra Nevada, it flows past Stockton, Calif., to join the Sacramento River above Suisun Bay. It is 350 mi (560 km) long and is dammed for hydroelectric power. , they found that many elements such as selenium selenium (səlē`nēəm), nonmetallic chemical element; symbol Se; at. no. 34; at. wt. 78.96; m.p. 217°C;; b.p. about 685°C;; sp. gr. 4.81 at 20°C;; valence −2, +4, or +6. , manganese and chromium concentrate in the root tips. In some cases the levels in the roots reach 2,000 times the concentrations dissolved in the water. Scudder says these plants, often considered weeds, can stand high levels of toxic metals. She proposes that hyacinths might be particularly useful in detecting substances whose concentrations fall below the limits of traditional methods. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion