Received: 6 December 2021 Revised: 30 May 2022 Accepted: 1 June 2022

DOI: 10.1002/ep.13928

ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Remediation and Treatment

Phytoextraction of heavy metals from tannery sludge:

A cleaner approach

Md. Ariful Islam Juel | Md. Ashikur Rahaman Noyon | Al Mizan |

Md. Abul Hashem | Md. Golam Azam

Department of Leather Engineering, Khulna

University of Engineering & Technology,
Khulna, Bangladesh
Correspondence
Md. Abul Hashem, Department of Leather
engineering, Khulna University of
Engineering & Technology, Khulna 9203,
Bangladesh.
Email: hashem_518@yahoo.com; mahashem@
le.kuet.ac.bd
Abstract
Worldwide, tannery sludge management has become a big challenge due to con-
taining heavy metals, especially chromium. In this study, phytoextraction of heavy
metals from tannery sludge by Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is presented.
Heavy metals-chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) in tannery sludge
were found at 12686, 371, 265, and 66 mg/kg, respectively. Separately, Napier grass
was harvested on raw tannery sludge and garden soil and examined for 16 and
20 weeks after the sowing of seeds. Metal extraction from tannery sludge in Napier
grass was found in a series of Cr > Zn > Cu > Pb; the most accumulation was
reported in shoot parts of plants in the order of shoots > roots > leaves. Accumula-
tion of Cr in Napier grass at 16 and 20 weeks was 37% and 66%, respectively. An
increasing trend of heavy metal gathering in the plant was found significantly by
extending the harvesting period from 16 to 20 weeks. Translocation of Cr and Pb
was greater than unity (1.623 and 1.339) indicating the suitability of phytoextraction.
Further, Napier grass is a rapid-yielding tropical grass, which showed a high degree of
growth tolerance that could be used for treating heavy metals contaminated tannery
sludge.

KEYWORDS
chromium, heavy metal, Napier grass, phytoremediation, tannery sludge

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N
In the tannery, solid wastes, for example, raw trimmings, limed flesh-
ing, shaving dust, buffing dust, finished trimmings, and sludge from
effluent treatment plant (ETP) are common. The discharged wastewa-
ter from the tannery produces a large amount of tannery sludge. Juel
1
et al reported that tannery sludge contains a high amount of chro-
mium (Cr) with some extent of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb).
Cr-rich tannery sludge management has become a great challenge for
Bangladesh as it is mostly dumped without any pretreatment. Shukla
2
et al reported that the application of tannery sludge for soil amend-
ment or cultivation would contribute to increased heavy metals con-
centration in soils. Because of their (heavy metals) non-biodegradable
nature, these metals can persist in soil and water for a long time as
insoluble or bioavailable form and increase the possibility of leaching
from the dumping sites/contaminated soil to groundwater or nearby
surface water.3–5 Also, cultivating crops in the sludge amended soil
can lead to migrating metals into the food chain that can cause bio-
magnification.6 Such transformation of heavy metals into the food
chain is a major threat for their high toxicity and indefinite persistence
in the environment.7–9 Many researchers reported that soil pollution
with heavy metals has considerably amplified the growing need to
reduce pollution for getting fresh air, water, and food.10,11 Decontami-
nation of heavy metals from the ecosystem as well as soil, water, and
air could make the environment healthy. In recent years, many cleans-
ing or decontamination processes for soil have been developed such

1 of 8 © 2022 American Institute of Chemical Engineers. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ep Environ Prog Sustainable Energy. 2022;41:e13928.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13928

JUEL ET AL.
as surface capping, solidification, chemical oxidation, soil vapor extrac-
tion, electrokinetic extraction, and soil flushing12–14 but these pro-
cesses have some basic limitations such as cost, easiness of
application, and site-specific suitability.15 Hence, researchers/
scientists are trying to find an eco-friendly process to decontaminate
the heavy metals from the contaminated soil.
Several researchers use phytoremediation to decontaminate the
soil2,16,17 due to its versatile benefits5,18 with the high potentiality of
heavy metals accumulation.12,19–21 However, heavy metal accumulation
in plants from contaminated soil varies and phytoremediation efficiency
depends on the diversity of plant species.3,22,23 Also, heavy metals
tolerant and naturally growing plant species is an important factor
for the efficiency of phytoremediation.24 The Napier grass
(Pennisetum purpureum) has extraordinary morphological and bio-
logical properties, especially immense deep root system, resistance
and resilience to an extensive variety of unfavorable climatic and
edaphic conditions.25 The Napier grass (P. purpureum) is easily
grown and available in several parts of Bangladesh.
In this study, the heavy metal phytoextraction efficiency of
Napier grass (P. purpureum) from the contaminated tannery sludge
was evaluated. Also, the temporal variation of the heavy metal uptake
efficiency on different parts of the plants was assessed.
2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 | Sampling
Tannery sludge was sampled from the ETP dumping site near Apex
Tannery Ltd., Gazipur, Bangladesh. A clean polyethylene bag was used
to collect the sludge sample and brought to the laboratory for the
experiment. The garden soil was collected from the university campus
of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Khulna,
Bangladesh. The collected sludge and garden soil were sun-dried for
3 days to minimize the moisture content and prepared for the sowing
of seeds. The seed of Napier grass was collected from the local seed
market of Khulna, Bangladesh.
2.2 | Sowing of Napier grass seeds
Two different clean plastic buckets were prepared for the seed sow-
ing of Napier grass. One was filled with only tannery sludge and the
other was garden soil for comparing the growing tolerance of Napier
grass. The buckets were placed in a well-ventilated place with avail-
able sunlight. Cow dung as compost was used in both buckets to
assist the plants' growth in a small amount with the interval of
4 weeks (a total of four times). Proper care was made with sufficient
watering of the plants. The seeds were grown as plants with proper
care and the plant was taken for further assessments after the 16th
and 20th weeks. During Napier grass cultivation, temperature of the
environment was 20–30
C. All other criteria and environments were
maintained the same for the two buckets.
19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
2 of 8
2.3 | Analysis of plant
The cultivated plants were collected after the 16th and 20th weeks
for further analysis. The Napier grass was divided into its roots,
shoots, and leaves. They were brushed to remove visible dust particles
and soil. Then, they were washed thoroughly with tap water to
remove contaminants and finally rinsed with deionized water care-
fully. The cleansed samples were chopped into small pieces and oven-
dried at 80
C to stop the enzymatic reaction and stabilize the sample
until constant weight. After drying, samples were ground with a labo-
ratory pulverizer machine (Fritsch, Pulverisette 14, Germany) and
sieved on 2 mm mesh, mixed homogenously, and stored for further
analysis.
2.4 | Digestion of plant sample
Digestion of plant samples was carried out following the APHA stan-
dard method 3030.26 About 0.5 g of each ground sample (roots,
shoots and leaves) was mixed with 5 ml nitric acid (65% HNO3) in a
beaker. The mixture was placed on a hot plate and heated at 125
C.
Additional HNO3 was added till forming brown fumes. The mixture
was cooled and 1–2 ml of hydrogen peroxide (30% H2O2) was added
and heating was continued until the digested residue was clear. Then,
the temperature was reduced to 80
C and continued heating until
near dryness. The residue was clear as the digestion was completed.
Diluted nitric acid and deionized water were added at the ratio of 1:2
to dissolve digest residue and the samples were filtered and made up
to 25 ml. The filtrate was collected for metal quantification.
2.5 | Digestion of sludge sample
Digestion of tannery sludge sample was carried out following the
USEPA standard method 3050B27 through acid digestion. About 2.0 g
ground tannery sludge sample was mixed with HNO3 (10 ml); placed
on a hot plate at 95 ± 5
C and refluxed for 10–15 min. After cooling,
5 ml HNO3 was added and refluxed for 30 min. Seldom, HNO3 was
added to remove the brown fume. After cooling, deionized water
(2 ml) and H2O2 (3 ml) were added. The mixture was allowed to warm
for the commencement of the peroxide reaction. The mixture was
cooled and additionally, 1 ml H2O2 was added and continued warming
until the fizziness of the solution was found minimum. Finally, the
mixture was heated to make the solution volume to 5 ml and allowed
to cool. After cooling, the suspension was filtered through filter paper
(Whatman No.1) and made up to 100 ml. The filtrate was stored for
further analysis.
2.6 | Elemental analysis
The metals Cr, Zn, Cu, and Pb in the acid digested aliquots of tannery
sludge and plants were quantified by flame atomic absorption

3 of 8
spectroscopy (Shimadzu AA 7000). The instrument was calibrated by
running three standards and blank. Three measurements of each sam-
ple were carried out and the mean value was reported in this study
with standard deviation. The limits of detection of the AAS for Cr, Zn,
and Cu were 0.001 mg/L and Pb was 0.01 mg/L, respectively.
2.7 | Phytoextraction efficacy
The phytoextraction efficacy of heavy metals was calculated based on
the initial heavy metal amount in the tannery sludge and the accumu-
lated amount of heavy metals in plants after 16 and 20 weeks. The
metal accumulation factor (A) of Napier grass was calculated according
to Wilson and Pyatta28 equation.
CTMP
Accumulation factor ðAÞ ¼  100
CTS
where A, CTMP and CTS represent the accumulation factor (%), amount
of total metal accumulation in the plant, and metal concentration in
tannery sludge, respectively.
2.8 | Translocation factor
Translocation factor (TF) signifies how much the heavy metals translo-
12
cate from the root part to shoot part of the same plants. It could be
calculated as
Concentration of metal in shoots of plants grown on tannery sludgeðmg=kgÞ
TF ¼
Concentration of metal in roots of plants grown on tannery sludgeðmg=kgÞ
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 | Characteristics of tannery sludge
Table 1 depicts the metal content of tannery sludge. The pH value of
raw tannery sludge (TS) was 7.8 indicating slightly alkaline whereas
the favorable pH ranges for the best microbial activities in soil range
31
from 6.6 to 7.3. The pH of tannery sludge after 20 weeks of cultiva-
tion of Napier grass was reported at 7.2. This decrease in pH from 7.8
to 7.2 may be due to the extension of the treatment period which is
designated as the “alkalizing” effect of TS. A similar result of pH
2
decrease in TS was reported by Shukla et al. About 15% of organic
content (OC) was found in the collected tannery sludge whereas OC
of soil remains generally 1%–5% and most often soil contains 1%–2%
of organic matter.31 This high amount of OC helps in plant growth as
well as supplies nutrition to the plants.2 The electrical conductivity
(EC) of the TS was noticed at 25 mS/cm, which signifies that there is a
huge amount of inorganic metals in the collected TS.
19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
JUEL ET AL.
TABLE 1 Heavy metals comparison with standards
Metals Tannery Sludge DoE29 USEPA30 Unit
Cr 12685.5 ± 50.2 900 3000 mg/kg
Cu 371.6 ± 115 800 4300 mg/kg
Zn 265.3 ± 35 2500 7500 mg/kg
Pb 65.7 ± 4.5 900 840 mg/kg
The initial amount of Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb in the tannery sludge were
12,686, 371, 265, and 66 mg/kg, respectively which follows the following
order Cr > Cu > Zn > Pb. The Cr concentration was found to be 14 and
4 times greater than the application and sludge management standards
recommended by the Department of Environment (DoE), Bangladesh,
and USEPA standards respectively. Other than Cr, concentrations of all
other studied metals were found to be below both DoE and USEPA per-
ð1Þ
missible limits (Table 1). In our result, it is revealed that TS is highly
housed with heavy metal Cr, which creates a serious obstacle to its
proper utilization or proper management. Hence, decontamination or
immobilization of Cr in tannery sludge by phytoremediation may be a
possible way of safe disposal or best-fit utilization strategy.
3.2 | Growth tolerance
Table 2 depicts the growing tolerance of Napier grass which was tested
by harvesting in tannery sludge and garden soil into two different pots in
parallel. Napier grass was harvested in the tannery sludge for 16 weeks,
the length of the root, shoot and leaves were between 8–18 cm,
61–76 cm, and 13–38 cm, respectively. At 20 weeks, the length of the
root, shoot, and leaves was between 8.5–22 cm, 91–113 cm, and
ð2Þ
20–43 cm, respectively. In compliance with the growth rate of different
parts of the plants, the dry mass yield of Napier grass on 20 weeks
showed an average of three times more yield than 16 weeks plants for
both the garden soil and tannery sludge where the root, shoot, and leaves
were found to be 3, 5 and 1 times more yield in the last 5 weeks
(16–20 weeks), respectively. This could be due to the maturity stages
of plant parts on 20 weeks and showed the highest growth with signifi-
cant mass yield. In addition, the total dry mass yield of Napier grass
grown on garden soil at 16 and 20 weeks were 258 and 945 g/m2
whereas the grass grown on tannery sludge was calculated for 253 and
952 g/m2, respectively as depicted in Table 2. There was no substantial
difference in the dry mass yield of Napier grass harvested in the garden
soil and tannery sludge in this study. Thus, Napier grass could be reg-
arded as a well-tolerant plant, which could be grown on tannery sludge
to extract heavy metals.
3.3 | Heavy metals accumulation in Napier grass
The mass fraction was used to calculate the metal uptake in the differ-
ent parts of the plant (root, shoot, and leaf). The Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb
accumulation in the plant on weeks 16 and 20 are shown in Table 3.
 19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
JUEL ET AL. 4 of 8

TABLE 2 Dry mass (g/m2) yield comparison of Napier grass in tannery sludge and garden soil on weeks 16 and 20

16 week 20 week

Type Root Shoot Leaf Root Shoot Leaf

Garden soil 67.8 ± 2.3 90.6 ± 5.1 100 ± 6.2 260 ± 8.3 491 ± 6.9 194.5 ± 9.1
Tannery sludge 72.05 ± 7.4 79.2 ± 9.13 101.6 ± 10.2 248.4 ± 12.01 503.6 ± 19.3 199.7 ± 8.4

TABLE 3 Heavy metals accumulation in the different parts of the plant

Metal content (mg/kg)

Plant parts Harvested period Cr Cu Zn Pb

Root 16 weeks 422.1 ± 13.27 90.8 ± 3.04 64.2 ± 3.27 16.9 ± 1.97
20 weeks 684.9 ± 9.08 179.2 ± 10.42 94.3 ± 4.43 22.1 ± 1.01
Shoot 16 weeks 412.6 ± 8.13 26.1 ± 1.32 28.1 ± 1.05 15.7 ± 1.73
20 weeks 1111.7 ± 13.21 48.4 ± 2.14 52.6 ± 1.89 29.6 ± 3.20
Leaf 16 weeks 94.4 ± 8.51 21.5 ± 1.57 47.2 ± 2.65 1.2 ± 0.08
20 weeks 100.8 ± 6.31 43.1 ± 3.39 68.1 ± 2.31 4.1 ± 0.41

The Cr uptake in the root from the tannery sludge on weeks 16 and
20 were 422 and 685 mg/kg, respectively. On the other hand, Cr in
the shoot and leaves were reported at 413 and 94, mg/kg respectively
at 16 weeks whereas at 20 weeks it was found 1112 and 101 mg/kg.
It is noticeable that Cr accumulation in the root and shoot was maxi-
mum and substantially increased from 16 to 20 weeks signifying more
accumulation in matured plants. Further, it is evident from Table 3
that shoot is the part of Napier grass which accumulated the highest
amount of Cr (413 and 1112 mg/kg on 16 and 20 weeks respectively)
from tannery sludge whereas leaves showed the minimum accumula-
tion of Cr. Several researchers showed that the shoot part of plants
can uptake more amounts of heavy metals than the other parts of the
plants.2 Other researchers also investigated the phytoremediation of
heavy metals from sewage sludge and revealed similar results for the
Napier grass Cr accumulation which is in congruence with this
study.32
In the case of Cu, accumulation behavior is completely reversed
from Cr uptake. The root of Napier grass was found to be more accu-
mulator of Cu (e.g., 91 and 179 mg/kg for 16 and 20 weeks, respec-
tively). In our result, the order of Cu accumulation in Napier grass
cultivated on tannery sludge follows root > shoot > leaves. Although
the initial amount of Cu (372 mg/kg) was much lower in concentration
than the amount of Cr (12,686 mg/kg) in the raw tannery sludge,
uptake of Cu in Napier grass was noticeable. Zn accumulation showed
a similar trend as Cu indicating the highest concentration of 94 mg/kg
in the root parts of plants after 20 weeks. Although, the total concen-
tration of Zn in TS did not exceed sludge application and management
standards set by DoE and USEPA, obviously amount of Zn accumula-
tion in different parts of plants (e.g., roots, shoots, and leaves) in this
study will enhance the suitability of Napier grass cultivation on highly
Zn contaminated sludge for further use. Accumulation of Pb in roots,
shoots, and leaves of Napier grass also shows the same trend found
for metal Cr in this study, and the concentration was 17, 16, 1 mg/kg
for 16 weeks and 22, 30, 4 mg/kg for 20 weeks, respectively. It
denotes that 20 weeks of matured Napier grass can accumulate more
metal in its different parts than 16 weeks of plants showing significant
remediation of metals from tannery sludge, which is in congruence
with Shukla et al.2
3.4 | Estimation of decontamination efficacy
Table 4 shows the heavy metals decontamination efficacy of Napier grass
cultivated on tannery sludge. The Cr removal efficiency from the tannery
sludge on weeks 16 and 20 was 37% and 66%, respectively. It is obvious
that metal removal increased over time and reported a 29% increase in
the last 4 weeks for Cr (Table 4). There was a moderate and insignificant
increase of Cu and Zn metal accumulation respectively at 16 and
20 weeks. On the other hand, Pb removal on weeks 16 and 20 was
reported at 66% and 90%, respectively signifying a high degree of Pb
accumulation in 16–20 weeks (i.e., 24% increase in the last 4 weeks) and
was the most accumulated metal (respect to percentage) by Napier grass
from TS in the present study. Although, metals Cu, Zn, and Pb content in
the tannery sludge were below the standard limit set by a different orga-
nization (Table 1) but accumulated in plants considerably higher. There-
fore, the Napier grass was found to be effective to accumulate heavy
metals especially Cr from the highly contaminated tannery sludge.
Besides, Napier grass has a high biomass production capacity grown on
TS in 16 and 20 weeks shown in Table 2, which signifies that Napier can
grow in such hardy medium like tannery sludge and could be an excellent
option for metal remediation. Pilon-Smits33 reported that the selection of
plants with high biomass production and good phytoremediation capacity
leads to an ideal technique for phytoremediation where the plant can
grow adequately hardy and in a competitive climate. Eapen and
D0 Souza34 reported some essential factors to be considered during
selecting the plant for phytoremediation. Danhet al25 observed the
 19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
5 of 8 JUEL ET AL.

T A B L E 4 Heavy metal content in

Metal content in tannery sludge (mg/kg) Removal (%)
tannery sludge and removal percentage
Metals Initial 16 week 20 week 16 week 20 week
Cr 12685.5 ± 50.2 8037.5 ± 6.2 4259.03 ± 7.5 37 66
Cu 371.6 ± 115 193.4 ± 10.9 160.6 ± 6.01 48 57
Zn 265.3 ± 35 72.3 ± 9.1 64.01 ± 5.4 73 76
Pb 65.7 ± 4.5 22.1 ± 1.02 6.4 ± 2.1 66 90

TABLE 5 Comparison of metal accumulation in Napier grass with the previous studies

Duration Initial Accumulation Removal

Contaminated site Location (Month) Metals (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (%) References
Mostorod Clayey soil Egypt 2 Cr 213 50.6 24 Lotfy and
Mostafa32
Oil shale mined land China 6 Pb 31.8 2.36 7.4 Xia35
Model constructed Brazil 2 Cr 581.3 186.016 32 Mant et al36
wetland
Tannery sludge Bangladesh 5 Cr 12685.5 8426.47 66 This study
Cu 371.6 211.00 57
Zn 265.3 201.29 76
Pb 65.7 59.30 90

phytoremediation capability of Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) for
different metal series as Zn > Pb > Cu > Cr. In this study, the
phytoremediation capability of the Napier grass series was Cr >
Zn > Cu > Pb and the uptake capacity of different parts of the
plant was shoot > root > leaves. As the TS contain a very high
amount of Cr, therefore, Napier grass is more suitable for
phytoremediation of tannery sludge dumping sites. However,
heavy metal uptake by the different parts of the Indian mustard
plant was reported in root > shoot > leaves and for Marigold
root > leaves > shoot and heavy metals uptake of the Indian mus-
tard and Marigold plant were Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb and Zn > Cr >
19
Pb > Cu, respectively.
A comparison of metal accumulation by Napier grass in different
contaminated sites throughout the world was made and is shown in
Table 5. Among the different contaminated sites, Napier grass culti-
vated on tannery sludge showed a higher amount of metal accumula-
tion (Table 5). This implies that Napier grass could be one of the
potential phytoremediation agents of tannery sludge.
3.5 | Estimation of TF
TFs greater than unity signify an efficient translocation of metals from
root to shoots of a plant. Results from Table 6 indicate that the TF value
of Cr and Pb were reported as more than unity and was 1.623 and 1.339,
respectively. It implies that Napier grass has a higher translocation ability
of Cr and Pb, which may be considered a potential plant for the
phytoextraction of heavy metals, especially Cr. Also, the shoot is the har-
vestable part of Napier that could be an ideal phytoextracting plant as it
translocates more amounts of metals (e.g., Cr and Pb) to the harvestable
parts of plants. Several researchers pointed out that heavy metal accumu-
lation in harvestable parts of plants showed a significant phytoextraction
capability as the harvesting of the roots of the plant is not practical.15,37
On the other hand, plants with TF values less than the unit are considered
phytostabilizing plant.38 From the calculated results, the TF value of Zn
(0.558) and Cu (0.270) in 20 weeks shows the phytostabilizing effect.
Therefore, it is beneficial to grow Napier grass for the phytostabilization
of heavy metals in the contaminated sludge, which will reduce the envi-
ronmental threat caused by the re-deposition of dead vegetation.39 How-
ever, the order of metal translocation in this study follows
Cr > Pb > Zn > Cu.
3.6 | Linking of the metal amount in soil and plant
In this research, the Pearson correlation coefficient among Cr, Cu, Zn,
and Pb was studied for showing the strong and poor relationships
between metal accumulations in Napier grass as depicted in Table 7.
A significant positive correlation was found in the metal Cr with Pb
and Cu with Zn, which denotes that the element Cr and Pb and Cu
and Zn accumulate in the same manner. Strong correlation revealed a
high amount of these metal accumulation in the plants computing the
Napier grass as a promising phytoremediation plant leading to be used
as a biomass fuel which is in congruence with the other studies.3,32,40
The relationship was significant at p < 0.05. All other correlation was
found insignificant and the p-value was more than 0.05 for the rest of
the correlations. Such relationships revealed that Napier grass has
strong heavy metal accumulating effects on the ecological polluted
soil; it is a favorable plant to smile in biomonitoring of heavy metal
ions, which can be used as biomass fuel.3,32,40
 19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
JUEL ET AL. 6 of 8

T A B L E 6 Bioconcentration and transfer factor of heavy metals in 4 | CONC LU SION

Napier grass

Bioconcentration factor (BCF) Translocation factor (TF) This study reveals the phytoextraction capabilities of Napier grass
on raw tannery sludge. Napier grass was able to grow on the tannery
Metals 16 week 20 week 16 week 20 week
sludge and accumulated a very significant amount of heavy metals
Cr 0.073 0.150 0.977 1.623
especially Cr in various parts of the plants. Cr and Pb metal showed
Cu 0.358 0.702 0.287 0.270
a higher percentage of accumulation in the plants and shoot was the
Zn 0.557 0.858 0.438 0.558 most gathered part compared to root and leaf. The growth tolerance
Pb 0.530 0.875 0.929 1.339 of Napier grass on tannery sludge was outstanding compared with
garden soil and the dry mass yield was also very satisfactory in this
research. A total of 20 weeks of harvesting was able to accumulate
more than 66% Cr (8426 mg/kg) in the plants; certifying them as
T A B L E 7 Pearson correlation coefficient between metals in TS
promising plants for Cr removal from tannery sludge. Considerably,
and Napier grass shoot
a higher accumulation of metal was reported at 20 weeks than at
Metals Cr Cu Zn Pb
16 weeks. On the other hand, TF indicated that Cr and Pb could
Cr - translocate much in the shoot from root parts of plants leading to
Cu 0.3420 - making them suitable for biomass fuel. Further, leaves of the Napier
Zn 0.1414 0.8687* - grass can be fed to the animals owing to less accumulation of heavy
Pb 0.9660* 0.4463 0.1745 - metals in it. However, this plant could be an eco-friendly and best-
fit phytoremediation plant to its growth tolerance, metal remedia-
*Signifies the strong positive correlation at p < 0.05.
tion capacity, translocation of metals from roots, commonly cultivat-
ing, and availability in Bangladesh. Finally, highly Cr contaminated
3.7 | Post management of the metals accumulated tannery sludge can be decontaminated with Napier grass and could
in Napier grass be an efficient option before another use of tannery sludge.

The utilization of metals accumulated in Napier grass and its metal
separation could be explored in different ways. Researchers have
established several probable and potential methods including chemi-
cal and bio-based removal of heavy metals from metal contaminated
sludge, adsorbents, and biomass. Production of bioethanol from
heavy metal loaded Napier grass has been carried out for its safe
post management.3 In addition, the Napier grass has been utilized
further for biogas production in biotechnological applications,
energy production, reduction of biomass volume by composting, and
use of biomass earlier.41–43 Nevertheless, the use of organic and
inorganic acids for chemical leaching has been trialed and got prior-
ity due to its higher efficiency to separate the metals where metals
are dissolved and/or ionized in their hydroxide or other forms.44,45
Other methods conceptualized by the researchers include electrodi-
alysis, precipitation, thermal treatment, coagulation, co-precipita-
tion, electrodeposition, and biosorption where biosorption has been
reported as the environment-friendly approach for metals removal
44–47
from sludges. For this study, recycling of the accumulated
metals in Napier grass might be possible through the newly devel-
oped sequential separation method of complex leaching with
HNO3 where Napier grass will be dissolved to make a solution.44,46
According to the method, an online biosorption could be carried
out using sorbent modified by diethylenetriamine (EDTA) as it was
noticed to be effective for arresting Cr(III), Zn, and Cu(II) in the ear-
lier study.44 It is highly recommended for further study to check
the suitability of this method for the separation of metals from
metal accumulated in Napier grass.
AUTHOR CONTRIBU TIONS
Md. Ariful Islam Juel: Conceptualization (equal); investigation (equal);
methodology (equal); writing – original draft (equal). Md. Ashikur
Rahaman Noyon: Formal analysis (equal); methodology (equal); writ-
ing – original draft (equal). Al Mizan: Validation (equal); writing –
review and editing (equal). Md. Abul Hashem: Resources (equal);
supervision (equal); writing – review and editing (equal). Md. Golam
Azam: Data curation (equal); writing – review and editing (equal).
CONFLIC T OF INT ER E ST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
DATA AVAILABILITY STAT EMEN T
The datasets used and/or analyzed during this study are available
from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
OR CID
Md. Ashikur Rahaman Noyon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4866-
0932
Md. Abul Hashem https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2340-1475
RE FE RE NCE S
1. Juel MAI, Mizan A, Ahmed T. Sustainable use of tannery sludge in
brick manufacturing in Bangladesh. Waste Manag. 2017;60:259-269.
2. Shukla OP, Juwarkar AA, Singh SK, Khan S, Rai UN. Growth responses
and metal accumulation capabilities of woody plants during the
phytoremediation of tannery sludge. Waste Manag. 2011;31:
115-123.

7 of 8
3. Ko CH, Yu FC, Chang FC, et al. Bioethanol production from recovered
Napier grass with heavy metals. J Environ Manage. 2017;203:1005-
1010.
4. Cristaldi A, Conti GO, Jho EH, et al. Phytoremediation of contami-
nated soils by heavy metals and PAHs. A brief review. Environ Technol
Innov. 2017;8:309-326.
5. Singh S, Sinha S. Accumulation of metals and its effects in Brassica
juncea (L.) Czern, (cv. Rohini) grown on various amendments of tan-
nery waste. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2005;62:118-127.
6. Pergent G, Martini CO. Mercury levels and fluxes in
Podosoniaoceanica meadows. Environ Pollut. 1999;106:33-37.
7. Göhre V, Paszkowski U. Contribution of the arbuscular mycorrhizal
symbiosis to heavy metal phytoremediation. Planta. 2006;223:1115-
1122.
8. Rostami S, Azhdarpoor A. The application of plant growth regulators
to improve phytoremediation of contaminated soils: a review. Chemo-
sphere. 2019;220:818-827.
9. Marques APGC, Rangel AOSS, Castro PML. Remediation of heavy
metal contaminated soils: phytoremediation as a potentially promising
clean-up technology. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol. 2009;39:622-654.
10. Chen L, Zhou S, Shi Y, et al. Heavy metals in food crops, soil, and
water in the Lihe River watershed of the Taihu region and their
potential health risks when ingested. Sci Total Environ. 2018;615:
141-149.
11. Toth G, Hermann T, Da Silva MR, Montanarella L. Heavy metals in
agricultural soils of the European Union with implications for food
safety. Environ Int. 2016;88:299-309.
12. Elshmay MM, Heikal YM, Bonanomi G. Phytoremediation efficiency
of Portulacaoleracea L. naturally growing in some industrial sites,
Dakahlia District, Egypt. Chemosphere. 2019;225:678-687.
13. Sheoran V, Sheoran AS, Poonia P. Role of hyperaccumulators in
phytoextraction of metals from contaminated mining sites: a review.
Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol. 2011;41:168-214.
14. Wuana RA, Okieimen FE. Heavy metals in contaminated soils: a
review of sources, chemistry, risks and best available strategies for
remediation. Int Sch Res Notices. 2011;1-20. doi:10.5402/2011/
402647
15. Ali H, Khan E, Sajad MA. Phytoremediation of heavy metals-concepts
and applications. Chemosphere. 2013;91:869-881.
16. de Souza TD, Borges AC, Braga AF, Veloso RW, de Matos AT.
Phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated water by Lemna
Valdiviana: An optimization study. Chemosphere. 2019;234:402-408.
17. Tang L, Hamid Y, Zehra A, et al. Characterization of fava bean
(Viciafaba L.) genotypes for phytoremediation of cadmium and lead
co-contaminated soils coupled with agro-production. Ecotoxicol Envi-
ron Saf. 2019;171:190-198.
18. Jeevanantham S, Saravanan A, Hemavathy RV, Kumar PS,
Yashikaa PR, Yuvaraj D. Removal of toxic pollutants from water envi-
ronment by phytoremediation: a survey on application and future
prospects. Environ Technol Innov. 2019;13:264-276.
19. Choudhury MR, Islam MS, Ahmed ZU, Nayar F. Phytoremediation of
heavy metal contaminated Buriganga riverbed sediment by Indian
mustard and Marigold plants. Environ Prog Sustain Energy. 2015;35:
117-124.
20. Rai PK. Heavy metals/metalloids remediation from wastewater using
free floating macrophytes of a natural wetland. Environ Technol Innov.
2019;15:1000393. doi:10.1016/j.eti.2019.100393
21. Sivaram AK, Logeshwaran P, Lockington R, Naidu R, Megharaj M.
Phytoremediation efficacy assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydro-
carbons contaminated soils using garden pea (Pisumsativum) and
earthworms (Eiseniafetida). Chemosphere. 2019;229:227-235.
22. Antoniadis V, Shaheen SM, Boersch J, Frohne T, Du Laing G,
Rinklebe J. Bioavailability and risk assessment of potentially toxic ele-
ments in garden edible vegetables and soils around a highly
19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
JUEL ET AL.
contaminated former mining area in Germany. J Environ Manage.
2017;186:192-200.
23. Pavoni E, Petranich E, Adami G, et al. Bioaccumulation of thallium and
other trace metals in Biscutellalaevigata nearby a decommissioned zinc-lead
mine (northeastern Italian Alps). J Environ Manage. 2017;186:214-224.
24. Midhat L, Ouazzani N, Hejjaj A, Ouhammou A, Mandi L. Accumulation
of heavy metals in metallophytes from three mining sites (southern
Centre Morocco) and evaluation of their phytoremediation potential.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2019;169:150-160.
25. Danh LT, Truong P, Mammucari R, Tran T, Foster N. Vetiver grass,
Vetiveriazizanioides: a choice plant for phytoremediation of heavy
metals and organic wastes. Int J Phytoremediation. 2009;11:664-691.
26. APHA. Standard Methods 3030, Preliminary Treatment of Samples,
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.
American Public Health Association/American Water Works Associa-
tion, Water Environment Federation; 2017.
27. USEPA Method 3050B: Acid Digestion of Sediments, Sludges, and Soils,
Revision 2. United States Environmental Protection Agency; 1996.
28. Wilson B, Pyatt FB. Heavy metal bioaccumulation by the important
food plant, Oleaeuropaea L., in an ancient metalliferous polluted area
of Cyprus. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2007;78:390-394.
29. Department of Environment (DoE). Standards and Guidelines for
Sludge Management. 2015.
30. USEPA. Land Application of Sewage Sludge. 1994.
31. Jones JB. Plant Nutrition and Soil Fertility Manual. CRC Press; 2012.
32. Lotfy SM, Mostafa AZ. Phytoremediation of contaminated soil with
cobalt and chromium. J Geochem Explor. 2013;144:367-373.
33. Pilon-Smits E. Phytoremediation. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2005;56:15-39.
34. Eapen S, D'Souza SF. Prospects of genetic engineering of plants for
phytoremediation of toxic metals. Biotechnol Adv. 2005;23:97-114.
35. Xia HP. Ecological rehabilitation and phytoremediation with four
grasses in oil shale mined land. Chemosphere. 2004;54(3):345-353.
36. Mant C, Costa S, Williams J, Tambourgi E. Phytoremediation of chro-
mium by model constructed wetland. Bioresour Technol. 2006;97(15):
1767-1772.
37. Long X, Ni N, Wang L, et al. Phytoremediation of cadmium-
contaminated soil by two Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus
L.) genotypes. Clean-Soil, Air, Water. 2013;41:202-209.
38. Sun Y, Zhou Q, Liu W, An J, Xu Z, Wang L. Joint effects of arsenic
and cadmium on plant growth and metal bioaccumulation: a potential
cd hyperaccumulator and as-excluder Bidenspilosa L. J Hazard Mater.
2009;161:1023-1028.
39. Wei S, Zhou Q, Wang X. Identification of weed plants excluding the
uptake of heavy metals. Environt Int. 2005;31:829-834.
40. Wiangkham N, Prapagdee B. Potential of Napier grass with cadmium-
resistant bacterial inoculation on cadmium phytoremediation and its
possibility to use as biomass fuel. Chemosphere. 2018;201:511-518.
41. Ma C, Hui M, Lin C, Naidu R, Bolan N. Phytoextraction of heavy metal
from tailing waste using Napier grass. Catena. 2016;136:74-83.
42. Dussadee N, Ramaraj R, Cheunbarn T. Biotechnological application of
sustainable biogas production through dry anaerobic digestion of Napier
grass. 3 Biotech. 2017;7(1):47. doi:10.1007/s13205-017-0646-4
43. Hetland MD, Gallagher JR, Daly DJ, Hassett DJ, Heebink LV.
Processing of Plants Used to Phytoremediate Lead-Contaminated Sites,
A Leeson, 2001. In: Forte EA, Banks MK, & Magar VS, eds. Batelle
Press; 2001;129–136.
44. Wang J, Zhou R, Yu J, et al. Sequential recovery of cu(II), Cr(III), and
Zn(II) from electroplating sludge leaching solution by an on-line bio-
sorption method with dosage controlling. J Clean Prod. 2022;337:
130427. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130427
45. Zhu SY, Wang ZH, Lin X, et al. Effective recycling of cu from ele-
ctroplating wastewater effluent via the combined Fenton oxidation
and hydrometallurgy route. J Environ Manage. 2020;271:110963. doi:
10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110963
 19447450, 2022, 6, Downloaded from https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ep.13928 by Cochrane Portugal, Wiley Online Library on [21/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
JUEL ET AL. 8 of 8

46. Yu J, Li H, Zhou R, et al. Surface ion imprinted bagasse for selective

removal of cu (II) from the leaching solution of electroplating sludge. How to cite this article: Juel MAI, Noyon MAR, Mizan A,
Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp. 2022;639:128394. doi:10.1016/
Hashem MA, Azam MG. Phytoextraction of heavy metals from
j.colsurfa.2022.128394
47. Juel MAI, Hasan MA, Al-Mizan HMA. Metals removal from thermally
tannery sludge: A cleaner approach. Environ Prog Sustainable
treated tannery sludge: a novel approach. Environ Nano Monit Manag. Energy. 2022;41(6):e13928. doi:10.1002/ep.13928
2021;16:100548. doi:10.1016/j.enmm.2021.100548