Assessment of heavy metals accumulation in paddy rice (Oryza sativa)

Heavy metals contamination in paddy field was conducted using Oryza sativa. Paddy soils and rice plants were sampled along seven transverse lines of the paddy field before the harvesting time. The paddy plants were separated into roots, stems, leaves and grains. Metal concentrations of the samples were carried out using ICP-OES Spectrometer machine OPTIMA 5300 DV. Metals enrichment factor and translocation were also measured in this study. The results showed that the plant roots of O. sativa accumulated relatively large amount of lead, cadmium, chromium and copper, while zinc highest in the stem. The correlation test showed that there was a strong correlation for zinc and cadmium concentrations in O. sativa with the paddy soil. Enrichment factor (EF) showed that lead, cadmium and copper were concentrated in the root of O. sativa, while chromium and zinc metals were more concentrated in the shoot part. Translocation factor (TF) showed that Oryza sativa was able to transfer zinc and chromium from root to the shoot part of O. sativa. O. sativa has the potential of being used for the phytoremediation of zinc and chromium from the paddy soil. Key words: Heavy metals, Oryza sativa, enrichment factor (EF), translocation factor (TF).