Phytoremediation of Organic Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater

Phytoremediation is and emerging for the clean up of sites contaminated with hazardous chemicals. The term phytoremediation refers to a number of technologies that use photoautotrophic vascular plants for the remediation of sites contaminated with inorgainc and organic contaminants can be organized by considering 1) the green liver concept which elucidates the metabolism of contaminants in planta versus that of contaminats explanta (e.g. rhizosphere) 2) processes that lead to complete degradation (mineralization) of contaminants as opposed to those that only lead to partial degradation or transformation, and 3) active plant uptake versus passive processes (e.g. sorption). Understanding of these processes needs an interdisciplinary approach involving chemists, biologists, soil scientists, and environmetalists. This Review presents the basic concepts of phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil and groundwater using selected contaminants as examples.