Heavy metals (HMs) are unique products, and as a result of their uniqueness, they cannot be converted into non-toxic forms. Both natural and man-made sources, such as mining, industry, and automobile emissions, release heavy metals into the environment. They enter subsurface waters through waterways or are carried away by runoff into surface waters, damaging both the water and the land at the same time. Because of population growth, industrialisation, and urbanisation, HM pollution is on the rise. Organic and inorganic pollutants are now poisoning a large area of the world, with heavy metal pollution becoming a serious problem in recent years. Toxic heavy metal has a detrimental influence on plant growth, which also damages DNA, and causes cancer in animals and humans. To remove, transport, stabilise, and breakdown contaminants from soil, sediment, and water, phytoremediation employs plants. Rhizofiltration, phytostabilization, phytovolatization, phytodegradation, and phytotransformation are some of its processes. Due to its advantages as a low-cost, effective, and environmentally friendly way of eliminating dangerous metals from the soil, phytoremediation has grown in favour in recent years. Field crops can create a thick green canopy on disturbed soil, improving the landscape and reducing contaminant movement through water, wind, and percolation. This increases the effectiveness of phytoremediation. More than 400 plant species, including the well-known Ricinus communis, Thlaspi, Brassica, and Arabidopsis, Helianthus annuus, Zea mays, and Brassica napus, have been identified as having potential for soil and water remediation. In this review article, we discuss the factors that contribute to heavy metal pollution, phytoremediation technology, the method by which heavy metals are taken up, and various studies that describe its practical use.
