Phytoextraction technologies for mercury‐ and chromium‐contaminated soil: a review

Abstract

Mercury and chromium represent two important elements of environmental concern and with a strong impact on human health. Several technologies are available to clean up the environment from these kinds of contaminants, but most of them are costly and difficult to use to get optimum results. Currently, phytoextraction is an effective and affordable technological solution used to extract or remove metals from contaminated soil and water by the use of plants as tools. This technology is environment‐friendly and potentially cost‐effective. This paper aims to compile some information about the two metals mercury and chromium, their effects and their possible treatment by phytoextraction, a branch of phytoremediation technologies aimed to confront metal/metalloid pollution. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Phytoremediation of Cadmium: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Mechanisms

“…Phytoextraction helps to reduce metalloid toxicity by improving substrate geochemistry for future colonization of native plants [79]. It is an effective, affordable, environmentally friendly, and potentially cost-effective technique for remediating soils [80]. Despite the generally agreed advantages of phytoextraction, there are some disadvantages, such as the time required for the remediation of highly contaminated soils may be decades [81], and a limitation for mine waste applications [82].…”

Phytoextraction from Chromium-Contaminated Soil Using Moso Bamboo in Mediterranean Conditions

“…Chromium phytoextraction depends on the specific hyperaccumulator-contaminant interaction (Tu et al 2004, López-Luna et al 2009. Understanding mass balance analyses and the metabolic fate of pollutants in plants are the keys to proving the applicability of phytoremediation (Mwegoha 2008;Oliveira 2012;Ranieri et al 2020). Previous contamination tests were also aimed to quantify how much chromium the Moso bamboo plant is able to retain.…”

“…Previous contamination tests were also aimed to quantify how much chromium the Moso bamboo plant is able to retain. Plants use different mechanisms to control the toxic effects of chromium, accumulating it in the tissues through the uptake of the roots and subsequent translocation (Ranieri et al 2020).…”

“…Phytoremediation can be applied both in the presence of inorganic contaminants, such as heavy metals, through extraction or stabilization processes, and in the presence of organic contaminants, through degradation or extraction processes (Gardea-Torresdey et al 2004;Anderson et al 2005;Karimi et al 2009;Ranieri et al 2013;Petrella et al 2016;Ranieri et al 2020). Phytoextraction, which can be defined as the use of plants to remove non-degradable contaminants from the soil, is considered a green technology that can be applied to some heavy metals (McGrath et al 2006;Reeves and Baker 2009;Tangahu et al The premise of this method is to find out a hyperaccumulator, like Moso bamboo, which has a great ability to accumulate the metals at high biomass production so that it can use his plant's ability of uptake metals which are essential for its growth (Cho-Ruk et al 2006;Robinson et al 2006;Arshad et al 2008;Bian et al 2017).…”

An integrated approach for spatial distribution of potentially toxic elements (Cu, Pb and Zn) in topsoil

“…Different mechanisms, such as physical, chemical, and biological processes determine metal retention in soils 6 , 9 , 10 . Due to its high retention capacity, soil is often regarded as a sink for metals discharged into the environment 11 – 13 . It is important that detailed information on the distribution of PTEs in the environment, particularly in industrial towns, is available in an easily understandable format for policy decision makers so that soil contamination caused by industrial development can be assessed to inform practicable mitigation approaches, alongside public health monitoring 14 , 15 .…”