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PERCHLORATE ACCUMULATION FROM FERTILIZER IN LEAFY VEGETATION
Citation:
Lewis Hutchinson, S, S. Susarla, N L. Wolfe, AND S C. McCutcheon. PERCHLORATE ACCUMULATION FROM FERTILIZER IN LEAFY VEGETATION. Presented at Association for Environmental Health and Sciences 10th Annual West Coast Conference on Contaminated Soils and Ground Water, Port Hueneme, CA, March 20-23, 2000.
Description:
Perchlorate contaminated water and soil has been identified in many areas of the United States. Previous studies indicated that the primary source of contamination was from industry and military operations that use perchlorate as an oxidzing agent. However, recent studies have found significant quantities of perchlorate in commercial fertilizers, which may be an additional source of perchlorate in the environment. Current studies on vegetation uptake of
perchlorate from fertilizer show that leafy garden crops, lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and mustard (Brassica alba), accumulate perchlorate and its transformation products in their leaves, stems, and roots. Final results have not been tabulated and additional experimental work is needed to confirm preliminary findings.