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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/ETERM/33
Evaluating growth and physiological response of carrot to various lithium
concentrations in soil

*1
Saira Afzal
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus-
61100, Pakistan
Correspondence: sairaafzal.es@gmail.com

Abstract
th
Among alkali metals lithium (Li) is the lightest monovalent cation and 27 most abundant
element in the soil. Current widespread and future expected use of the element may cause
toxicity to living systems. In order to evaluate the effect of varying concentration of Li (0, 20,
−1
40, 60, and 80 mg kg soil) on carrot plant a pot experiment was conducted. The experimental
-1
results showed that lower levels of Li in soil (20 mg Li kg ) improve the growth and
-1
productivity of plants. While, higher concentration of Li 40, 60, 80 mg kg showed negative
effects on growth of carrot plant by decreasing the shoot fresh 49% to 83% and 87%,
respectively. Similarly, dry biomass of roots was decreased to corresponding Li concentrations
in the order of 14.41%, 62.11% and 89.0 %, respectively. The present study also revealed that
Li interferes with potassium and calcium uptake in plants. It was noted that higher
concentrations of Li can antagonize potassium and calcium uptake the leaves and roots of the
plants. Further, we also evaluated the risks associated with the consumption of carrot grown
on Li contaminated soil and concluded that at given Li concentrations it does not pose any
human health risk with the consumption of Li treated carrot plants.
Keywords: Lithium; Carrot; Contaminated soil

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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