The effects of chemical species on bioaccumulation of rare earth elements in wheat grown in nutrient solution

In this study, the effects the of complexing agent ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) on the species of Rare Earth Elements Lanthanum Gadolinium and Yttrium in nutrient solution and bioaccumulation of REEs in wheat seedling were investigated. The results showed that addition of EDTA can reduce the bioaccumulation values in the root, on the other hand, the bioaccumulation values in the aboveground part (stem and leaves) increased. Considering the different parts of wheat, root had higher bioaccumulation ability than that in the aboveground part of wheat. During the range of experiment concentrations (0–4 mg L−1), both ionic and complexed species REEs in nutrient solution had positive linear correlation with their concentrations in root. All these indicated that EDTA had strong effects on the bioavailabilities of REEs through controlling their species in nutrient solution and transportation processes from root to aboveground part of wheat.