Phytoremediation uses plants to remove, contain, or render harmless pollutants in the soil and groundwater. It is a low-cost remediation method where the root systems of trees and other plants absorb contaminants. While effective for some shallow contamination and with public support, phytoremediation is slow, incomplete, and limited to certain pollutants and plant types. More research is still needed but it shows promise as a greener alternative to traditional cleanup methods.
Phytoremediation uses plants to remove, contain, or render harmless pollutants in the soil and groundwater. It is a low-cost remediation method where the root systems of trees and other plants absorb contaminants. While effective for some shallow contamination and with public support, phytoremediation is slow, incomplete, and limited to certain pollutants and plant types. More research is still needed but it shows promise as a greener alternative to traditional cleanup methods.
Phytoremediation uses plants to remove, contain, or render harmless pollutants in the soil and groundwater. It is a low-cost remediation method where the root systems of trees and other plants absorb contaminants. While effective for some shallow contamination and with public support, phytoremediation is slow, incomplete, and limited to certain pollutants and plant types. More research is still needed but it shows promise as a greener alternative to traditional cleanup methods.
. Pollution Prevention, Control and Remediation This presentation Involve: What is Phytoremediation How does Phytoremediation work Advantages of Phytoremediation Disadvantages of Phytoremediation WHAT IS PHYTOREMEDIATION? Phytoremediation is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater. Phytoremediation is: A low cost, solar energy driven cleanup technique. Most useful at sites with shallow, low levels of contamination. Useful for treating a wide variety of environmental contaminants. Effective with, or in some cases, in place of mechanical cleanup methods. Why Plants? (phyto means plant) Plants are unique organisms equipped with remarkable metabolic and absorption capabilities, as well as transport systems that can take up nutrients or contaminants selectively from the growth matrix, soil or water. Phytoremediation involves growing plants in a contaminated matrix, for a required growth period, to remove contaminants from the matrix, or facilitate immobilisation (binding/containment) or degradation (detoxification) of the pollutants How does it work? The root system provides an enormous surface area that absorbs and accumulates the water and nutrients essential for growth, as well as other non-essential contaminants. Deep-lying contaminated ground water can be treated by pumping the water out of the ground and using plants to treat the contamination. Advantages Phytoremediation has several advantages. The method is cheap, being ten times less expensive than conventional non- biological strategies (Chappell 1998) The method generates less secondary wastes (Doty 2008) and minimizes leaching of contaminants (Suthersan 1999) Public acceptance for phytoremediation is very high. The relationships that humans have to plants are rooted deep in our evolutionary past and Homo sapiens has a deeply held innate appreciation for their value as we all depend on plants giving food, medicine, and shelter Disadvanatges Although phytoremediation appears to be promising, there are certain limitations associated with the technique. As plants are used in environmental clean-ups, it takes a long period of time than other remediation approaches, requiring a long term commitment for maintenance or the process may be effective seasonally. Plants are also sensitive to types and concentrations of pollutants present at the waste sites (phytotoxicity) (Doty 2008) and are not able to remove all types of contaminants (Sadowsky 1999), particularly hydrophobic contaminants which tend to remain adsorbed to soil particles (Suthersan 1999). Disadvantages Thus phytoremediation often results in slow and incomplete detoxification, leading to the accumulation of parent compounds and toxic metabolites in the plant which eventually return back to the environment (Van Aken 2008). Uses Limited plants only Dependent on season Other concern Researchers are finding that the use of trees (rather than smaller plants) is effective in treating deeper contamination because tree roots penetrate more deeply into the ground. In addition, deep-lying contaminated ground water can be treated by pumping the water out of the ground and using plants to treat the contamination The use of plants does not result in a 100% removal of contaminants. Phytoremediation has been studied extensively in research and small- scale demonstrations, but full-scale applications are currently limited to a small number of projects. Further research and development will lead to wider acceptance and use of phytoremediation.