Trace element translocation patterns in the epigeous parts of 15 common Canadian urban plant species grown in a contaminated soil

Green initiatives and phytotechnologies, such as phytoremediation, hold great potential for the sustainable management of contaminated brownfields. One impediment to these initiatives is the lack of alternatives for the produced biomass due to the potential contamination of plants by trace elements. We conducted an experiment to quantify the accumulation and the translocation patterns of trace elements in the aboveground parts of fifteen desirable plants species used for these kinds of initiatives, i.e. urban predominance, ecological relevance, edibility, commercial prospective, and phytoremediation potential. The experiment was set-up in a tunnel-type greenhouse in which plants were grown in pots filled with contaminated urban soil containing Cu, Zn, Se, Ag and spiked with Cd. Our results indicated that different species exhibited differential abilities to accumulate and translocate trace elements in their aboveground biomass and furthermore, exhibited different bioconcentration factors. A clear exclusion of Cd allocation was observed in fruits and flowers. However, Cd content in edible parts was still above the standard recommendations for human consumption. Our results suggest potential candidates for phytoremediation by revealing different accumulation patterns, also highlighting the importance of characterizing trace elements in the soil for selecting the appropriate plant species based on project’s needs.