After harvest, plants were carefully removed from each
pot, and roots were washed thoroughly to get rid of
adhering soil particles followed by quick wash in deionized
water. Soil in each pot was kept for further analysis. Plants
were then divided into roots and shoots, and were ovendried
at 60 jC for 72 h, and dry weights were recorded. For
the analysis of Pb in plant tissues, 1 g of dried tissue was
digested in 15 ml HCl/HNO3/HClO4 (3:1:2 v/v) at 150 jC
until the solution became clear. The resultant solutions were
filtered and diluted to 25 ml in volumetric flasks and stored
at 4 jC prior to analysis on a flame atomic absorption
spectrometry (Hitachi 2000). Soil pH was determined in