Search for Phytoremediating Plants in a Textile Dye Polluted Area of Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Phytoremediation is a powerful yet affordable tool for clean-up of various contaminated sites through use of plants. Many plants exist that can not only survive in polluted areas but also hyperaccumulate industrial and domestic pollutants, which can range from heavy metals to oil and grease. Bangladesh is noted for its garment industries, but suffers from the problem of having areas, which are contaminated with textile dye wastes. Such an area exists in Savar of Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. A survey was carried out in the area to search for plants growing within the textile dye contaminated site with the further objective determining the phytoremediation capacity of the plants through available database searches. Our survey found 15 plants distributed into 10 families to be growing in the contaminated area. Literature search showed that nearly all the plants have reported phytoremediation capacities, and as such can possibly provide an easy and affordable way to clean up textile dye contaminated sites.