Effects of Lead and Cadmium on the Seedling of Plants, Brassica Oleracea L, and Abelmoschus Esculentus L.

Abstract

In this study we tested the negative effects of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) at the concentrations of 5 – 500 µg/L and 1 – 100 µg/L, respectively, on the germination, fresh weight, root and shoot length of broccoli, Brassica oleracea L., and okra, Abelmoschus esculentus L. over the period of 7 days. Two other tests were also conducted as control in which the seeds of these two plants were watered with distilled water only. For each concentration of exposures, 10 seeds were put into a plastic container and nine replicates (n = 9) for each treatment were prepared. The results revealed slight effects of the metals on the germination of B. oleracea and A. esculentus. However, fresh weight of the sprouts was decreased upon metal exposures especially the significant reduction of A. esculentus fresh weight in the Pb incubations. Pb slightly affected on the root prolongation of both plants. There was no significant difference on the shoot length of B. oleracea in control and Cd treatments. Furthermore, Cd tended to stimulate the prolongation of root and inhibit the extension of shoot of A. esculentus. Besides, Cd (100 µg/L) and Pb (500 µg/L) caused the leaf abnormality in B. oleracea. Our results contribute more understanding on the toxicity of Pb and Cd at environmentally relevant concentrations on the seedling of plants. Further investigations on the toxicity of other pollutants as well as their mixture on seedling of plants are recommended.