Abstract :
Heavy metals are not biodegradable and enter the food chain through a number of pathways causing progressive toxic actions
due to the accumulation in different organs during a life span and long-term exposure to contaminated environments. Secondary
ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were used to localize chromium in
Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms. ICP-MS was used for the determination of Cr concentrations in water, sediments and plant
samples in the Cachoeira basin, Bahia, Brazil. The results obtained by ICP-MS shows abnormally high values of Cr
concentrations in water samples (0.38 mg/l), in soil samples (63 mg/g) and 70 mg/g in plant tissue. SIMS results show increased
levels of Cr in the root cell wall and xylem vessel, these sites show high Cr accumulation. The ICP-MS data confirm E. crassipes
like bioindicator plant. Chemical analysis using ICP-MS, confirms SIMS analysis on the presence of Cr in roots xylem cell walls.
The use of ICP-MS, to investigate the same organs as the ones investigated by SIMS, provided complementary results on
chromium study.
# 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
