Localization and quantification of cadmium and lead in<em> Typha latifolia</em> plants. Effects of individual and mixed pollution.

In previous work we investigated the uptake and accumulation mechanisms of different heavy metals &ndash; lead, cadmium and the metaloid arsenic for Typha latifolia. Reactions of antioxidation enzymes after heavy metal stress had also been investigated. By now we know some details about the detoxification mechanisms of heavy metals in Typha latifolia (ascorbate and glutathione dependent enzymes of Halliwell-Asada cycle, glutathione S-transferase, oxidised and reduced glutathione amounts) but detail information about the spatial distribution of Pb and Cd in Typha latifilia plants is missing.Information about the translocation and quantification of these heavy metals in cattail will give us the opportunity for better understanding of the detoxification and give us idea about the plant adaptation on heavy metal contaminated sites. Typha latifolia plants are widely present in constructed wetlands. For that reason it was very interesting to detect the disposition of lead and cadmium in mixed pollution. This kind of conditions brought us near to the field conditions of wetlands. The micro-PIXE technology give us the opportunity to localize and indicate the accumulations of the mentioned heavy metals in cattail providing us important information that can not be obtained using other analytic procedures