https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2019.033
Published: Kem. Ind. 68 (9-10) (2019) 447–456
Paper reference number: KUI-33/2019
Paper type: Review
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Phytoremediation – Overview and Perspective

N. Milčić, Z. Findrik Blažević and M. Vuković Domanovac

Abstract

Remediation of soils contaminated with complex mixtures of organic compounds and heavy metals is one of the greatest challenges of environmental renewal. Phytoremediation is the name for a set of techniques that employ plants, their enzymes, and associated microorganisms in the root zone for isolation, transport, detoxification, and mineralization of xenobiotics in the soil, thereby reducing their concentration, mobility or toxic effects. Phytoextraction, phytostabilization, phytovolatization, phytodegradation, and rhizodegradation have a great potential for non-destructive remediation of soils as shown by numerous laboratory-scale studies. In order for phytoremediation to become a reliable technology for a wide range of applications at a larger scale, resources need to be invested in a new research with an aim to better understand the process as a whole, especially at the genetic and biochemical levels.

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Keywords

phytomediation, soil contamination, heavy metals, organic pollutants, xenobiotics