Phytoremediation of Sardinian abandoned mine site: a preliminary study on the use of Helichrysum microphyllum Cambess. subsp. tyrrhenicum Bacch., Brullo & Giusso

Sardinia was an important mine pole in Europe during the 19th and 20th century. Mine waste, rich in heavy metals, were left abandoned in tailing dumps, causing a relevant impact on the quality of water bodies and soils in nearby areas. Consequently, appropriate remediation activities are required in order to reduce the environmental contamination. Phytoremediation can be applied in these contexts because some plants are able to catch metals in roots or in epigean organs, offering plant coverage, improving soil characteristics and re-launching vegetation dynamics. This research is focused on Helichrysum microphyllum Cambess. subsp. tyrrhenicum Bacch., Brullo & Giusso, which is an endemic shrub of Sardinia, Corsica and Balearic Islands and it can grow in different edaphic condition, including mine's environments. The aim of this study is to evaluate the plant's ability to extract heavy metals from mine soils and accumulate them in the plant tissues. Sundry samples of soil, roots and epigean organ were collected in Campo Pisano mine dump and analyzed in order to obtain metals concentration and mineralogical characteristics. Our preliminary result indicates that H. microphyllum subsp. tyrrhenicum tolerates high concentration of them, decreasing from roots to epigean organs, thus behaving as a species suitable for phytostabilization.