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Hype or Hope: The Potential of Phytoremediation as an Emerging Green Technology
Author(s) -
Schwitzguébel JeanPaul
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
remediation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6831
pISSN - 1051-5658
DOI - 10.1002/rem.1015
Subject(s) - phytoremediation , bioremediation , pollutant , context (archaeology) , environmental science , heavy metals , microorganism , phytoextraction process , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemical engineering , biology , engineering , environmental chemistry , contamination , hyperaccumulator , ecology , chemistry , bacteria , paleontology , genetics
Phytoremediation is defined as the use of green plants and their associated microorganisms, soil amendments,and agronomic techniques to remove, contain, or render harmless environmental pollutants. At the present time,phytoremediation is an emerging technology and there is still a significant need to pursue both fundamental andapplied research to fully exploit the metabolic and growth habits of higher plants. It is precisely the purposeof the European COST Action 837 to stimulate the development and evaluate the potential of plant biotechnologyfor the removal of organic pollutants and toxic metals from wastewater and contaminated sites. However, greenplants grow under nonsterile conditions and thus strongly interact with many microorganisms, like bacteria andmycorrhizal fungi. In this context, an Inter‐COST Workshop on bioremediation was recently organized toaddress the significance of soil microorganisms for plants, and the importance of their interactions, withregard to their potential for phytoremediation. Based on the outcomes of this workshop, the potential use ofphytoremediation is presented in this article. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.