Uptake of some heavy metal(oid)s by sunflower

Plant parts of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.): root, stem, leaf, and seed, as well as the soil on which this plant culture was grown were analyzed for the content of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn using Optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES). The samples were prepared by wet digestion. To assess the degree of bioaccumulation in plant parts and the translocation of the examined elements from the roots to the above-ground plant parts, the Biological Concentration Factor (BCF), Mobility Ratio (MR), and Translocation Factor (TF) were calculated. BCF and MR values are less than 1 for all elements while TF (leaf/root) values for As, Cd, Cu, Fe, and Mn and TF (stem/root) values for Cu are higher than 1.