Phytoremediation: Restoration of Contaminated Soil Using Plants (Phytoremediation)

Human activities are largely responsible for soil and water pollution and, more generally, for overall damage to the environment. Each of us has already encountered situations involving severe pollution or damage to nature, such as the effects of biocides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.), hydrocarbons, or toxic metals and inorganic elements (Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Sn, As, Tl, etc.). Fortunately, over the long term, nature is capable of a certain degree of resilience by adapting to certain types of pollution, particularly through the activity of microorganisms and plants. This capacity of nature has long inspired humans, particularly in the treatment of their drinking water (> 3,000 years). Today, nature inspires new approaches to the integrated remediation of these polluted environments, particularly bio-inspired approaches. These approaches are part of a broader ecological framework that draws on various disciplines within scientific ecology (plant, microbial, molecular, evolutionary, functional, chemical, etc.), as well as biology, toxicology, physical chemistry, and biochemistry. Among these, phytoremediation (a set of technologies that use plants to extract, degrade, or immobilize pollutants) is one of the most promising approaches, even though it is primarily intended to address environmental problems caused by trace metals, or ETMs.

Author: Claude Grison

Encyclopedia of the Environment
November 4, 2022

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