ICP-OES Analysis of Yarrow
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Carmen Nezat
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-7-2025 11:30 AM
End Date
5-7-2025 1:30 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Environmental Science
Abstract
The Prairie Restoration Site located on Eastern Washington University’s campus is home to a variety of native and non-native plants. One plant in particular, Achillea millefolium, commonly known as yarrow, has a lengthy history in our region and is an important part of many ecosystems. A section of this restoration site lays over what was once the shooting range for various clubs at EWU. Because of this, it is suspected that there are higher concentrations of lead and other heavy metals from the years of use as a shooting range in the past. This study aims to find how much lead in the soil can be taken up into the roots of yarrow and how it may travel upwards into the above ground section of the plant. This experiment was conducted in Jan 2025 as three samples of yarrow and one soil sample were collected, dried and leached with dilute HNO3 and analyzed using an ICP-OES. Results suggest that the samples collected fell outside of the zone of higher heavy metal concentrations, however beneficial data such as background heavy metal concentrations and a potential inverse relationship between the uptake of Ca and Pb would aid in further research.
(Keywords: Achillea millefolium, Heavy metals, ICP-OES)
Recommended Citation
Busch, Zane Ryan, "ICP-OES Analysis of Yarrow" (2025). 2025 Symposium. 35.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2025/ps_2025/p2_2025/35
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
ICP-OES Analysis of Yarrow
PUB NCR
The Prairie Restoration Site located on Eastern Washington University’s campus is home to a variety of native and non-native plants. One plant in particular, Achillea millefolium, commonly known as yarrow, has a lengthy history in our region and is an important part of many ecosystems. A section of this restoration site lays over what was once the shooting range for various clubs at EWU. Because of this, it is suspected that there are higher concentrations of lead and other heavy metals from the years of use as a shooting range in the past. This study aims to find how much lead in the soil can be taken up into the roots of yarrow and how it may travel upwards into the above ground section of the plant. This experiment was conducted in Jan 2025 as three samples of yarrow and one soil sample were collected, dried and leached with dilute HNO3 and analyzed using an ICP-OES. Results suggest that the samples collected fell outside of the zone of higher heavy metal concentrations, however beneficial data such as background heavy metal concentrations and a potential inverse relationship between the uptake of Ca and Pb would aid in further research.
(Keywords: Achillea millefolium, Heavy metals, ICP-OES)
