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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

An Anaerobic Biosensor Assay for the Detection of Mercury and Cadmium
Published on: December 17, 2018
Mercury in mercury(II)-spiked soils is highly susceptible to plant bioaccumulation
Michal Hlodák1, Martin Urík1, Peter Matúš1
1a Institute of Laboratory Research on Geomaterials, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava , Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova, Bratislava , Slovak Republic.
Abstract:
Heavy metal phytotoxicity assessments usually use soluble metal compounds in spiked soils to evaluate metal bioaccumulation, growth inhibition and adverse effects on physiological parameters. However, exampling mercury phytotoxicity for barley (Hordeum vulgare) this paper highlights unsuitability of this experimental approach. Mercury(II) in spiked soils is extremely bioavailable, and there experimentally determined bioaccumulation is significantly higher compared to reported mercury bioaccumulation efficiency from soils collected from mercury-polluted areas. Our results indicate this is not affected by soil sorption capacity, thus soil ageing and formation of more stable mercuric complexes with soil fractions is necessary for reasonable metal phytotoxicity assessments.
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