Determination of Chromium Accumulation in Herbaceous Plants From
Soils of The Canellton Industries Waste Site and Relation to
Phtoremediation

John Frost

Lake Superior State University

Science Department

2/28/97

Abstract

	Permission was given by the Environmntal Protetion Agency to enter the
Cannelton Industries site (a Superfund waste site) to take plant and soil samples for
chromium analysis. In the barren zone the most contaminated area of the site, six raspberry
plants were taken along with five soil samples at the location of each plant. Nitric acid
digestion was used to extract the chromium into solution and then the sample solutions
were aspirated through an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer for chromium concentration.
The plant samples were found to have chromium concentrations ranging from 48 to 900
parts per million. The average soil chromium concentrations for each plant was
determined and range from 33 to 5,196 ppm. The relationship of plant to average soil
concentration was linear with a 0.75 correlation coefficient.