Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation uses plants and associated microbes to remove, contain, or detoxify contaminants in soil, water, or air.

Phytoextraction: Plants absorb contaminants from soil or water and accumulate them in harvestable tissues. This pathway removes some contaminants by concentrating them in plant shoots.
Constructed wetland: An engineered wetland that uses vegetation, substrates, and microbes to treat water. Wetland plants and their root-zone communities can treat wastewater and polluted runoff.
Hyperaccumulation: The unusually high accumulation of particular elements in plant tissues without severe toxicity to the plant. This trait allows some plants to concentrate metals for extraction.
Bioremediation: The use of organisms, especially microorganisms, to remove or detoxify environmental contaminants. It is the broader biological approach that includes plant-assisted cleanup.
Phytostabilization: Plants reduce contaminant mobility through soil stabilization, root uptake, or chemical immobilization. It contains pollution in place rather than extracting it.
Mine tailings: Waste materials left after valuable minerals are separated from mined ore. Metal-tolerant plants can stabilize contaminated mine wastes and limit erosion.
Rhizosphere: The soil region directly influenced by plant roots and their secretions. Many phytoremediation effects depend on microbial activity in this root-influenced zone.
Pump and treat: A groundwater remediation method that pumps contaminated water to the surface for treatment. It actively extracts groundwater, unlike most plant-based treatments.
Rhizodegradation: Root-zone microbes break down organic contaminants using compounds released by plant roots. Plant-root secretions can stimulate microbial detoxification near contaminated roots.
Phytomining: The recovery of metals by growing plants that accumulate them and processing the harvested biomass. Metal-accumulating plants can recover elements from contaminated or mineralized soils.

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