THE EFFECT OF HEAVY METALS ON THE TOTAL PROTEIN CONCENTRATION OF TYPHA LATIFOLIA PLANTS, GROWING IN A SUBSTRATE CONTAINING SEWAGE SLUDGE COMPOST AND WATERED WITH

Typha latifolia plants, commonly known as cattails, were grown in a mixture of sewage sludge compost, commercial compost and perlite. Large 6.5 L pots were used with one well developed plant in each pot, divided in five groups. Four groups were irrigated with a solution containing different concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn for a period of 10 weeks, where the fifth was used as a blank. Changes in the concentration of total protein in the leaves/stems were monitored aiming to study the effect of heavy metals from both the substrate and the wastewater on the plants ’ development and health. At the end of the experiment in the leaves/stems of Typha latifolia the mean concentration of Ni and Zn reached values of 27.50 and 60.83mg/kg of d.w. respectively. Similar high concentrations were recorded for all fiv