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Processes of Phytoremediation

Phytoextraction is a phytoremediation process where plants remove contaminants from soil or water. The contaminants are concentrated in the plant biomass above ground. Some plants can uptake high amounts of contaminants and are called hyperaccumulators. Phytoextraction has been used for over 20 years to remove heavy metals and inorganics through concentrating them in harvested plant matter, leaving lower contaminant levels in the soil over repeated growth cycles. However, many pollutants are toxic to plants, so phytoremediation does not work for all contaminants like chromium.

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86 views2 pages

Processes of Phytoremediation

Phytoextraction is a phytoremediation process where plants remove contaminants from soil or water. The contaminants are concentrated in the plant biomass above ground. Some plants can uptake high amounts of contaminants and are called hyperaccumulators. Phytoextraction has been used for over 20 years to remove heavy metals and inorganics through concentrating them in harvested plant matter, leaving lower contaminant levels in the soil over repeated growth cycles. However, many pollutants are toxic to plants, so phytoremediation does not work for all contaminants like chromium.

Uploaded by

vijay kumar honnali
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Processes[edit]

Phytoremediation process
A range of processes mediated by plants or algae are tested in treating environmental problems.: [citation
needed]

Mechanisms involved in hydrocarbon phytoremediation [11]

Phytoextraction[edit]
See also: Phytoextraction process
Some heavy metals such as copper and zinc are removed from
the soil by moving up into the plant roots.
Phytoextraction (or phytoaccumulation or phytosequestration) exploits the ability of plants or algae to
remove contaminants from soil or water into harvestable plant biomass. It is also used for the mining
of metals such as copper(II) compounds. The roots take up substances from the soil or water and
concentrate them above ground in the plant biomass[9] Organisms that can uptake high amounts of
contaminants are called hyperaccumulators.[12] Phytoextraction can also be performed by plants
(e.g. Populus and Salix) that take up lower levels of pollutants, but due to their high growth rate and
biomass production, may remove a considerable amount of contaminants from the soil.
[13]
Phytoextraction has been growing rapidly in popularity worldwide for the last twenty years or so.
Typically, phytoextraction is used for heavy metals or other inorganics.[14] At the time of disposal,
contaminants are typically concentrated in the much smaller volume of the plant matter than in the
initially contaminated soil or sediment. After harvest, a lower level of the contaminant will remain in
the soil, so the growth/harvest cycle must usually be repeated through several crops to achieve a
significant cleanup. After the process, the soil is remediated.[citation needed]

Of course many pollutants kill plants, so phytoremediation is not a panacea. For example, chromium
is toxic to most higher plants at concentrations above 100 μM·kg−1 dry weight. [15]

Mining of these extracted metals through phytomining is a conceivable way of recovering the
material.[16] Hyperaccumulating plants are often metallophyte. Induced or assisted phytoextraction is
a process where a conditioning fluid containing a chelator or another agent is added to soil to
increase metal solubility or mobilization so that the plants can absorb them more easily. [17] While
such additives can increase metal uptake by plants, they can also lead to large amounts of available
metals in the soil beyond what the plants are able to translocate, causing potential leaching into the
subsoil or groundwater

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