Heavy Metals Accumulation of Some Plant Species Grown on Mining Area at Mahad ad’dahab, Saudi Arabia

Samples from different plants species, which grown around Mahad AD’Dahab Mine, have been selected to study their ability to accumulate these heavy metals. These plant species were: Pergularia tomentosa, Calotropis procera, Acacia tortilis, Ochradenus baccatus, Salsola Sp., Rhiza strica, Convolvalus Sp., Euculeptus Sp., Family Graminaea, and Prosopis juliflora. Moreover, some of soil samples under each plant were collected. Plants and soils samples were analyzed for their contents of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Two way ANOVA analysis without interaction was performed to examine the effect of plant species and heavy metals concentration in soil on their accumulation by plants. Although significant differences were not found at 0.01 levels among the plant species, it was found that Pergularia tomentosa was the highest to accumulate heavy metals. Considering the mean of accumulating heavy metals, plant species accumulated heavy metals by this order: Pergularia tomentosa> Euculeptus Sp> Convolvalus Sp.> Family Graminaea> Rhiza strica> Acacia tortilis> Prosopis juliflora> Salsola Sp> Calotropis procera> Ochradenus baccatus. According to the mean of BAF's, heavy metals concentration of Cd was found to be significantly different than Cu, Pb, and Zn. From above, these plants should be described as not-excluder and can be explored further for phytoremediation of metal polluted soils. On other hand, the practice of providing foliage and pods as fodder for live stock should be avoided in Mahad AD’Dahab area