Abstract
Accumulation of organic or mineral micropollutants in soils and waters may alter the functioning of ecosystems and contaminate the food chain. The remediation of these contaminated environments by currently available physico-chemical methods is either costly or impossible. Phyto-remediation, i.e. remediation based on the use of plants, would be more economic and more environmentally friendly, leaving soil material without major alterations in biological properties. Living plant roots transform the soil environment through many processes including uptake of water and elements and release of organic compounds, i.e. exudates, in the surrounding soil. Presence of exudates stimulates the soil microflora and induces changes in the soil structure as well as in the mobility of mineral ions. Hence, plants significantly alter the fate of pollutants in soils, and are suitable candidates for management of contaminated soils, i.e. phytoremediation. Phytoremediation utilizes the numerous capabilities that plants have to change their close environment. Covering of contaminated soils by adapted plants, i.e. phytostabilisation, helps the stabilization of the soil surface, and reduces the risk of transport to water streams of pollutants adsorbedon the fine solid phase. Also, growing tolerant plants reduces the water movement into the soil profile, thus limiting the leaching of soluble pollutants. Plants have also the ability to extract and accumulate non-essential trace elements in their tissues making it possible to removed metals from polluted environments. Hyperaccumulators of metals are a specialized class of plants able to accumulate metals to very high concentrations (up to 1 % by dry weight) in their above-ground tissues. They proved to be efficient for removing significant amounts of metals from soils polluted by sewage sludge or industrial activities, with little changes in other soil properties, i.e. phytoextraction. Plants are not only a sink for pollutants, they exert changes in the compounds present in their rhizosphere. The release of exudates modifies the chemistry and physics of the soil and may subsequently alter the mobility of metals Enhanced microbial activity is also observed in the rhizosphere, which makes plants useful in the management of environments contaminated with organic pollutants. In soils and waters, pesticides and hydrocarbons are degraded at a rate that depends on molecule type, soil properties, and the state of the microflora. In presence of plants, the process of degradation of organic pollutants, e.g. pesticides and hydrocarbons, is accelerated. Extraction by plants of organic compounds at high rates has not been demonstrated uniquevoquely yet. Phyto-remediation can be suitable for many polluted sites, and research is underway to make this approach a routine technique for soil and water remediation.
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Morel, J.L., Chaineau, C.H., Schiavon, M., Lichtfouse, E. (1999). The Role of Plants in the Remediation of Contaminated Soils. In: Baveye, P., Block, JC., Goncharuk, V.V. (eds) Bioavailability of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment. NATO ASI Series, vol 64. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9235-2_22
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