Phytoremediation (‘phyto’ means plant) is a generic term for the group of technologies that use plants for remediating soils, sludges, sediments and water contaminated with organic and inorganic contaminants.
Phytoremediation can be used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and landfill leachates. It can also be used for river basin management through the hydraulic control of contaminants.
To remove pollutants from soil, sediment and/or water, plants can break down, or degrade, organic pollutants or contain and stabilize metal contaminants by acting as filters or traps.
Researchers are finding that the use of trees (rather than smaller plants) is effective in treating deeper contamination because tree roots penetrate more deeply into the ground.
Phytoremediation is an in situ remediation technology that utilizes the inherent abilities of living plants. It is also an ecologically friendly, solar-energy driven clean-up technology, based on the concept of using nature to cleanse nature.