EXAMINING THE POTENTIAL FOR PLANTS GROWING IN SITU LEAD/ZINC MINE TAILINGS FOR PHYTOREMEDIATION IN SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI

Mining wastes from the 1800’s to the early 1900’s have added lead and zinc into the Pearson Creek watershed. One cost effective way to remove these potentially toxic contaminants from soils is called phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is a general term that means to remediate an area using plants.

We hope to determine the concentration of lead and zinc in plants growing in situ in Pearson Creek which will help us determine how much of these contaminants are bioavailable. We will also separate the plants into roots, stems and leaves for analysis to assess where the plants are storing the metal contamination. This is important because we hope to select the most appropriate plant species for a suggested future study on how to phytoremediate the area.