Effects of sodium azide on the limnological and phytoremediation potential of water hyacinth in aquatic environments contaminated with crude oil

Abstract

This study assessed the phytoremediation of aquatic habitats contaminated with crude oil in University of Abuja. These habitats were simulated in twelve (12) white containers in the Biological Garden of the Department of Biological Sciences. Some of the water hyacinth plants used in this research were treated with sodium azide, a chemical mutagen to induce beneficial mutation in the genes of the plants that can result in an improvement in the rate of phytoremediation by the plant. The result from this study showed a significant decline in BOD, DO, TDS, EC and pH through the weeks of the studies for each month both for the plants that were treated with sodium azide and those that were not treated with sodium azide. The survival rate of the sodium azide treated water hyacinth plants was also higher, almost one hundred percent in some cases compared to the ones that were not treated with sodium azide. The plants that were treated with sodium azide identified as C, C1, C2 and D, D1 and D2 also gave a better result in terms of uptake of heavy metals like Fe²⁺, Pb²⁺ and SO ⁺⁴ ions. The study recommends that phytoremediation by plants, especially aquatic plants like water hyacinths can be improved upon using chemical mutagens like sodium azide that can induce beneficial mutation which will bring about an improvement of the plant’s natural ability to clean-up or reclaim contaminated habitats through phytoremediation.