Hyperaccumulator Plants of the Keban Mining District and Their Possible Impact on the Environment

Various aspects related to the hyperaccumulator plants of the Keban mining district and their possible impact on the environment are investigated. Metal intake abilities of Euphorbia macroclada, Verbascum cheiranthifolium Boiss and Astragalus gummifer, which are common and native throughout Turkey and similar locations, are studied in the heavily polluted Keban mining district in Elazig. All the studied plants take up metals in high amounts - as high as hundreds of times more than averages for non-hyperaccumulator plants. Usually, higher plant metal contents are attained where higher soil metal contents exist. Enrichment factors, which are calculated by dividing metal content of plant by meal contents of soil, are higher in lower soil metal contents.