Phytoremediation

Summary

Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomic techniques to either contain, remove or render toxic environmental contaminants harmless". The term is an amalgam of the Greek phyto (plant) and Latin remedium (restoring balance). Although attractive for its cost, phytoremediation has not been demonstrated to redress any significant environmental challenge to the extent that contaminated space has been reclaimed. Phytoremediation is proposed as a cost-effective plant-based approach of environmental remediation that takes advantage of the ability of plants to concentrate elements and compounds from the environment and to detoxify various compounds. The concentrating effect results from the ability of certain plants called hyperaccumulators to bioaccumulate chemicals. The remediation effect i

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoremediation

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Copsa Mica, la métamorphose du "village noir". Scénario de ré-industrialisation d'un ancien site métallurgique en Roumanie

Jérémie Corminboeuf, Antoine Ducry

Considéré comme l'un des endroits les plus pollués d'Europe, Copsa Mica, bourgade transylvanienne de 5'000 hab., surnommée “le village noir” a fortement souffert de l'industrialisation lourde durant l'ère communiste de Ceausescu. Les émissions de fumée des usines métallurgiques sont à l'origine d'une forte contamination du sol et des cours d'eau. Bien que situé dans une des régions les plus dynamiques de Roumanie, l'image ternie et le désastre environnemental de Copsa Mica l'isolent de tout processus d'investissement. Le projet tente, à moyen terme, de faire participer le village à l'essor de la région via un processus d'assainissement du site menant à une réindustrialisation progressive. La phytoremédiation – la dépollution du sol à l'aide de plantes hyper-accumulatrices en métaux lourds – est utilisée à ces fins sur une période d'environ vingt ans. Ce procédé, organisé selon une trame modulaire, génère un masterplan permettant une réappropriation parcellaire pour des activités futures. La partie architecturale du projet propose d'une part, une réhabilitation de certains vestiges industriels emblématiques pour le domaine culturel et d'autre part, une usine d'incinération des végétaux. Cette dernière, couplée à l'incinération des déchets ménagers, permettrait la production d'énergie verte et constituerait une première à l'échelle du pays. Cette solution viserait à satisfaire les objectifs édictés par l'UE concernant la gestion des déchets que la Roumanie doit atteindre d'ici 2025. Elle permettrait à Copsa Mica, figé dans son passé, d'entreprendre sa métamorphose.

2015

The continuous accumulation of micropollutants in water is a growing problem for our water resources. Currently, most conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are not able to remove them efficiently. Several pharmaceuticals, for which the measured concentrations in German surface water might have an effect on some living organisms, are included in this pollutant class, as for example sulfamethoxazole (SMX), carbamazepine (CBZ) and diclofenac (DFC). Phytoremediation is known as an emerging and advantageous technique for soil and water remediation. The potential of using horseradish hairy root cultures (HR) as a plant model for the study of SMX phytoremediation has already been pointed out in a previous work and was tested again in this work, with the addition of a temporal scale (1, 2 and 6 days of contamination). The experiment confirmed the potential of using horseradish HR for SMX phytoremediation, with a disappearance rate from the medium around 90% already after 1 day and close to 100% after 6 days. A novel metabolite (SMX-Glycoside) was also detected in the medium as well as in the HR (concentration measurement with LCMS). Moreover, an enhancement of detoxifying enzymes and no enzymatic stress symptoms could be observed (enzymatic activity measurements with a spectrophotometer). Given that, in real life, SMX is not the only pharmaceutical present in WWTP influents, a second experiment was carried out with a mix contamination (SMX, CBZ and DFC). Although some differences of the SMX fate and of the enzymatic activity were observed, the potential for SMX phytoremediation could be confirmed also in this case (disappearance rate higher than 80% after 1 day and close to 100% after 6 days). DFC was also taken up and metabolized in the analyzed time period, whereas a lower disappearance rate was observed for CBZ. This experiment permitted thus to confirm the potential of using horseradish HR for SMX phytoremediation and to extend it also to a mix contamination (SMX and DFC).

2014

Stability of enhanced yield and metal uptake by sunflower mutants for improved phytoremediation

Cécile Bourigault, Erika Nehnevajova, Jean-Paul Schwitzguebel

Plant biomass and metal shoot accumulation are key factors for efficient phytoextraction. In a previous study, chemical mutagenesis has been used to improve the phytoextraction potential of sunflowers. The main goal of the present study was to assess the stability of sunflower mutants with improved biomass and metal accumulation properties in the 3rd and 4th generations. As compared to control plants, the best M3 mutants showed the follwing improvement of metal extraction: Cd 3-5-fold, Zn 4-5-fold, and Pb 3-5-fod. The best M4 sunflowers also shoed enhanced metal extraction: Cd 3-4- fond, Zn 5-7-fold, Pb 6-8-fold and Cr 5-7-fold. The control sunflower inbred line IBL 04, grown directly ion the field, accumulated metals in individual organs in the following decreasing order: Cd and Zn: leaves > stem > roots > flower > seeds; Cr: roots > flower > seeds > leaves > stem. The best sunflower mutants showed either higher metal accumulation in shoots or enhanced metal accumulation in roots, suggesting to improved phytoextraction or rhizofiltration efficiency, respectively.

2009

2014