Use of plants in the remediation of arsenic-contaminated waters

Arsenic-contaminated waters represent environmental and public health problems. The use of plants has emerged as a viable, cost-effective, and low environmental impact alternative to treat these polluted waters. This review presents studies published in the year 2019 on phytoremediation covering the effects observed on plants, trends in plant species selection and treatment of arsenic-rich biomass. Studies on application of this technology are exposed through constructed (treatment) wetlands, and a brief contextualization on the impacts of arsenic contamination was also performed. Practitioner points Arsenic is a toxic element that can be found in aquatic environments, and phytoremediation is a promising technology for treating waters contaminated by this pollutant. Constructed wetlands are a form of wastewater treatment that uses phytoremediation and other processes to remove arsenic from waters. Trends in future studies involve understanding the plants physiological anti-stress responses, treatment of contaminated biomass and application of constructed wetlands on a full scale.