It was assumed in the study that heavy metals occurring in soils and the air accumulate
in grasses constituting the main species used in the turfing of soil in road verges
and embankments along traffic routes and in other parts of urbanized areas. The aim
of the present study was to assess the bioaccumulation of Cu, Pb, and Zn in three
selected lawn cultivars of five grass species and in the soil of the roadside green belt
in terms of soil properties and heavy metal uptake by plants in the aspect of determining
their usefulness in protecting the soils from contamination caused by motor
vehicle traffic. Samples of the plant material and soil were collected for chemical
analysis in the autumn of 2018 (October) on the embankment along National Road
No. 17 between Piaski and Łopiennik (Poland), where 15 lawn cultivars of five grass
species had been sown 2 years earlier. During the study, Cu, Pb, and Zn levels were
determined in the aboveground biomass of the grasses under study and in the soil
beneath these grasses (the 0–20 cm layer). All the grass species under study can thus
be regarded as accumulators of Cu and Zn because the levels of these elements in
the aboveground biomass of the grasses were higher than in the soil beneath these
grasses. The present study demonstrates that the grasses can accumulate a large
amount of Cu and Zn from soils and transfer it to the aboveground biomass. Tested
species of grasses are not a higher bioaccumulators for Pb. The best grass species for
the sowing of roadsides embankment, with the highest BCF values for the studied
metals, is Lolium perenne (Taya variety).