Phytoremediation: Restoration of Contaminated Soil Using Plants (Phytoremediation)

Human activities are largely responsible for soil and water pollution and, more broadly, for overall environmental damage. Each of us has already encountered situations of severe pollution or damage to nature, such as the impacts of biocides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides…), hydrocarbons, or toxic metals and inorganic elements (Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, Sn, As, Tl…). Fortunately, in the long term, nature possesses a certain 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 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.), biology, toxicology, physical chemistry, and biochemistry. Among these, phytoremediation (a set of technologies using 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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