In Peru, gasoline containing lead as a main component was used in vehicles up until 2006, when the Government banned its sale. However, since this was preceded by a century of constant use, there is a high chance that most urban soils are polluted with this heavy metal. Hyperaccumulator plants that take up heavy metals from the soil and store them in their tissues without showing any symptoms of toxicity may be the solution to this problem, as the use of these plants for phytoremediation does not require large amounts of money, can be carried out in situ, and is environmentally friendly, making it one of the best options for urban areas. However, unfortunately, there are only a few known species of hyperaccumulator plants that can be grown in urban environments. Therefore, we conducted a bioassay at the Soil Fertility Laboratory of the Agronomy Faculty at the National Agrarian University...

Phytoremediation is a potentially less costly approach to treat contaminated soil. Here, the phytoremediation capacity of marigold (Tagetes erecta) in conjunction with EDTA and mycorrhizae was analyzed. Specifically, the ability of the marigold to extract lead from contaminated soils in the Bird Forest Zone of the Huachipa Zoological Park (PZH) was evaluated. Marigold was planted in main areas of interest within the PZH. Plants were treated with different concentrations of mycorrhizae (0 and 0.5 g/kg) and EDTA (0, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg) and later analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry for lead concentrations in the aerial parts and roots of the plants at the end of the experiment. We show that marigold has the ability to extract lead; and under the conditions of the experiment, mycorrhizae did not improve the extraction efficiency. However, EDTA did increase the amount of lead extract...