Polluted soil and water impact the quality of food and nutrients of human and animal biota. Soil and water are mainly polluted by effluent discharges from industries, which are broadly classified into metallic and nonmetallic pollutant-bearing effluents. In order to tackle this problem, a plant-based technology called phytoremediation is used to clean contaminated lands. Phytoremediation is based upon several processes such as phytodegradation, phytovolatilization, phytoaccumulation and phytoextraction. These methods are efficient, eco-friendly and economic. This paper reviews the methods and mechanisms involved in phytoremediation of heavy metals, and enhancement processes.

Phytoremediation of heavy metals: mechanisms, methods and enhancements

Environmental pollution due to heavy metals is a growing concern worldwide. Human activities such as industrial discharge, mining, smelting, hazardous solid waste disposal, etc. mainly contribute heavy metals to the soil. Persisting heavy metals in the soil can be taken up by plant tissues and can enter the biosphere and aggregate up in the trophic levels of the food web. Several physical, chemical and biological remediation techniques (in-situ as well as ex-situ) are available for the cleanup of heavy metal contaminated soil. Phytoremediation is the most sustainable (economical and eco-friendly) technique among these. Though, phytoremediation is less efficient than physical methods, it is still in the developmental stage and therefore, redirection of research activities for its commercial use is needed. This review summarizes the roles of soil chemistry, plant physiology and microbiology (plant-microbiology interaction) in assisting the phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil. The limitations and future directions towards sustainable phytoremediation are also discussed in this review.

Phytoremediation: A multidisciplinary approach to clean up heavy metal contaminated soil

Morphological and Physiological Responses of Plants to Cadmium Toxicity: A Review

Phytoremediation is a green emerging technology used to remove pollutants from environment components. Mechanisms used to remediate soils contaminated by heavy metal are: phytoextraction, phytostabilisation, phytovolatilization and rhizofiltration. The two first mechanisms are the most reliable. Many factors influence the choice of the suitable phytoremediation strategy for soil decontamination. It depends on soil properties, heavy metal levels and characteristics, plant species and climatic conditions. The present review discusses factors affecting heavy metals uptake by plant species, the different phytoremediation strategies of heavy metal contaminated soils and the advantages and disadvantages of phytoremediation and each of its mechanisms.

https://file.scirp.org/pdf/OJE_2015081715235974.pdf

Phytoremediation Mechanisms of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils: A Review

The continuous increase in industrial activities has contaminated the soil with heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, lead, arsenic, nickel, and zinc and are nondegradable and hazardous to life. Many physiochemical methods have been proposed to remove metals from soil, but no method is completely safe and satisfactory. Phytoextraction or phytoaccumulation has emerged as a promising technique for soil remediation that can readily absorb heavy metals and purify the soil of its contaminants. Plants have a natural mechanism to take up and store nutrients according to their bioavailability in soil and the plant’s requirement. Among them, hyperaccumulators have the tendency to take up even nonessential elements by 100-fold greater than nonhyperaccumulators. Because of their larger biomass, they can gather heavy metals using ion channels and metal transport proteins through roots and store them in the above-ground organs where they are either stored in vacuoles and cell walls or detoxified. More than 450–500 plant species have been identified as hyperaccumulators including Thalaspi and Arabidopsis and members from families such as Brassicaceae , Cyperaceae , Poaceae , Fabaceae , and several others. For the plants to effectively take up heavy metal contaminants, the contaminants need to be converted into water-soluble compounds. This technique is called induced phytoextraction in which chelating agents are added in soil that desorb the toxic metals and allow easy uptake by roots. Most common chelates are ethylene diamine tetra acetate, ethylene diamine disuccinate , and other organic acids. However, they can increase toxicity of ground water and affect soil microfauna; therefore, environmental-friendly chelates need to be developed. Another strategy to detoxify soils is to create transgenic plants with increased hyperaccumulation activity against a particular metal. Hence, phytoextraction can be a perfect technique for soil purification because of its minimal limitation. This chapter will focus on the phytoextraction mechanism, metal uptake, and accumulation techniques in plants. Further, the impact of phytoextraction on environmental health will also be explained.

Phytoextraction: The Use of Plants to Remove Heavy Metals from Soil

Phytoremediation is an emerging and eco-friendly green engineering technology that utilizes the natural properties of plants to remediate contaminated soils, water and sediments. Soil contamination by various inorganic and organic compounds has been a worldwide concern, and phytoremediation has benn received increasing attention for remediation of these contaminants. However, the practical application of phytoremediation has been limited because of its low remediation efficiency. This paper addresses phytoremediation on its characteristics, research status, with emphasis on description of its practical application in management and remediation of soil contaminated sites.

/pdf/study-on-application-of-phytoremediation-technology-in-2lln34czu6.pdf

Study on Application of Phytoremediation Technology in Management and Remediation of Contaminated Soils

Phytoremediation is a low cost and eco-friendly emerging technology for treatment of contaminated soils with the use of green plants In this study, the accumulation potential to heavy metals by two biofuel crops (maize and sunflower) and two metal accumulator plants (Elsholtzia splendens (ES), Tagetes patula L (TP)) was studied with pot culture filled with a heavy metal contaminated soil, in order to compare their suitability for phytoremediation of contaminated soils Sunflower showed the highest accumulation level for Cu (150 ug/pot) and Zn (10893 ug/pot) in the shoot part compared to other three plants Maize showed a similar accumulation level for Cu (104 ug/pot) and Zn (7454 ug/pot) to TP, but a much higher level than ES TP showed noticeable accumulation levels for Pb (196 ug/pot) and Cd (637 ug/pot) ES generally had the lowest accumulation capacity for Cu (385 ug/pot), Zn (2784 ug/pot), Pb (354 ug/pot) and Cd (182 ug/pot) Therefore, the two biofuel plants had higher or similar phytoremediation potential of heavy metals compared to the two accumulator plants This study provided useful data for considering biofuel plants as potential economic crops for phytoremediation

A Primary Study on Assessment of Phytoremediation Potential of Biofuel Crops in Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil

/pdf/effect-of-humic-acid-and-bacterial-manure-on-distribution-of-3bufqdmx1j.pdf

Effect of Humic Acid and Bacterial Manure on Distribution of Heavy Metals in Different Organs of Maize

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Study on Application of Phytoremediation Technology in Management and Remediation of Contaminated Soils

A Primary Study on Assessment of Phytoremediation Potential of Biofuel Crops in Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil

Effect of Humic Acid and Bacterial Manure on Distribution of Heavy Metals in Different Organs of Maize