Phytoremediation is the use of plants to partially or substantially remediate selected contaminants in contaminated soil, sludge, sediment, ground water, surface water, and waste water.

1. Phytoremediation

2. Introduction
 Remediation
 Conventional methods
 Alternative methods
 Bioremediation
 Phytoremediation
 Further classifications
 Rhizosphere
 Rhizoplane

3. EU: milliard
2,75-4,6 € /year
(Ernst &Young
2013)

4. Phytoremediation pros & cons
Pros
 Cost-efficiency
 „In situ”
 No/low amount of
secondary contaminants
 Soil structure, biological
function
 Biomass
 Metal recovery
(phytomining)
 Aesthetics (landscape)
Cons
 Timescale
 Concentration-dependency
 Restricted range of media
 Selection of species
 Continuous monitoring
 Treatment of biomass

5. Phytoextraction

6. Continuous phytoextraction I.
 Three strategies:
 Excluder
 Indicator
 Hyperaccumulator
 Mn, Zn (1%<)
 Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb (0.1%<)
 Cd (0.01%<)

7. Viola calaminaria (G.) Lej. Thlaspi alpestre (L.)
Silene dioica (L.) Alyssum bertolonii (Desv.)

8. Continuous phytoextraction II.
 Characteristics of hyperaccumulators
 Metal tolerance
 Translocation
 Detoxification with specific ligands
 Growing towards contamination (solution)
 Symbiosis (helps/hinders)

9. Pycnandra acuminata (Pierre ex Baill.) Swenson &
Munzinger

10. Induced phytoextraction
 Basics
 Mechanism
 Chelators
 EDTA (Pb, Cu, Zn)
 EGTA (Cd)
 S, NTA (Cd, Cu, Zn)
 (NH4)(NO3),
(NH4)2SO4 (137Cs)
 Citric-acid (U)
 Pros – Cons

11. Determination of phytoextraction
potential
 Bioaccumulation factor
BAF = Cshoot / Csoil
 Bioconcentration factor
BCF = Cplant part / Csoil
 Translocation factor
TF = Caboveground plant part / Croot

12. Phytofiltration
 Aquatic plants (absorption, adsorption, precipitation)
 Root + microorganisms
 Problems
 Concentration
 Size
 Development
 Water content
Lemna minor L.

13. Rhizofiltration
 Terrestrial plants
 Mechanism
 Root + microorganisms
 Precipitation (e.g. Pb – sunflower, Sarepta
mustard), adsorption, partitioning (Cd, U)
 Ideal species

15. Blastofiltration
 Seed, water, air (light)
 Primarily metals (adsorption/absorption)
 5-day-old Sarepta mustard plantlets
(Cd, Ni, Pb, Sr)
Brassica juncea L.

16. Phytovolatilization I.
 Plants + microorganisms
 Selenium
 Soil: Se2-, Se0, Se4+, Se6+
 Plant: SeO4
2-, SeO3
2-
 Dimethyl selenide
(e.g. cucumber)
 Dimethyl diselenide
 Forage, soil supplement
Astragalus bisulcatus (Hook.) A. Gray

17. Phytovolatilization II.
 Mercury (Hg)
 Mainly as Hg2+
 Hg0 (+), methylated (–)
 Members of Brassicaceae, tobacco
 Arsenic (As)
 Direct evidence (–)
 Bacteria and fungus
 Target: organic pollutants
 TCE - poplars

19. Phytostabilization I.
 Plants + soil amendments
 Ideally
 Sewage sludge
 Manure
 Industrial byproducts
 Phosphates
 Iron- and manganese oxides
 Organic matter
 Clay minerals

20. Phytostabilization II.
 Ideal species (short- and long term)
Agrostis stolonifera L. Populus alba L.

21. Phytodegradation I.
 Plants + microorganisms
 2 types:
 In planta
 log Kow 0,5 – 3
 + other factors
Myriophyllum spicatum L.

22. Phytodegradation II.
 Ex planta
 Exudates
 Enzymes
 Rhizosphere
Oryza sativa L.

23. Project I.
 Basket willow
 Meta-analysis
Salix viminalis L. Lovász-zug pond system

24. Project II.
Chenopodium album L. Tripleurospermum inodorum (L.)
Sch.Bip.

25. Laboratory work
 Soil
 pH
 Electrical conductivity
 Soil moisture
 Organic matter content
 CaCO3-content
 Liquid limit (soil plasticity
according to Arany)
 Elemental analyses (MP-
AES)
 Plant
 Cooling
 Drying
 Homogenizing
 Elemental analyses (MP-
AES)

26. Recommended literature
 Lone, ML., He, Z., Stoffella, PJ., Yang, X.
(2008): Phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted
soils and water: Progresses and perspectives.
Journal of Zheijang University Science B 9(3):
210–220.
 Pulford, ID., Watson, C. (2003):
Phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated
land by trees – a review. Environment
International 29(4): 529–540.