Sorption of cadmium, chromium, lead, and vanadium from artificial wetlands using Lemna aequinoctialis

The efficacy of the lesser duckweed, Lemna aequinoctialis (Welw.), to remediate varying concentrations of cadmium, chromium, lead, and vanadium from an organo-metallic contaminated media was tested in artificial surface wetland mesocosm experiment. A 100 g of fresh-weight duckweed was introduced into each of the mesocosm, except for the control setup and monitored for 120 days while the metals removal rate was quantified using an atomic absorption spectrometer. A time-dependent and partial sorption of metals was observed with the highest removal rate recorded for cadmium (71.96%), followed by lead (69.23%), vanadium (55.22%), and chromium (41.64%). The uptake and bioaccumulation of metals were reflected in the increased plant biomass (p < 0.05, F = 97.12) and relative growth rate (p < 0.05, F = 1214.35) in duckweed. A coefficient (r²) of 0.951, 0.919, 0.970, and 0.967 was recorded for cadmium, chromium, lead, and vanadium respectively, indicating that the remediation of metals followed the first-order kinetic rate model. This study highlights the efficacy of the lesser duckweed to preferentially remediate metals in an organo-metallic complex medium for potential wastewater treatment in the petrochemical industry.