Eichhornia crassipes: a Powerful Bio-indicator for Water Pollution by Emerging Pollutants

Eichhornia crassipes is well known as an invasive aquatic plant. It is also used very effectively in phytoremediation, particularly for the rhizofiltration of effluents contaminated by heavy metals. In this article, we show that it is also an excellent bioindicator of water polluted by worrying organic pollutants such as endocrine disruptors and neonicotinoids. As a proof of concept, di-n-hexylphthalate, pentabromodiphenyl ether, nitenpyram, acetamiprid and bis (3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxy-6-methylphenyl) sulfide were clearly identified by UHPLC-HRMS or GC-MS in the root system of E. crassipes after a short period of exposure. These results open up new perspectives for the remediation of water polluted by alarming organic pollutants.