Protocols for Applying Phytotechnologies in Metal-Contaminated Soils
Contamination with heavy metals continues to pose a serious challenge for the remediation of polluted soil, as they are not degradable and must be physically removed. At present, most technologies used for removing heavy metals from the soil greatly affec
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Protocols for Applying Phytotechnologies in Metal-Contaminated Soils Meri Barbafieri, Jan Japenga, Paul Romkens, Gianniantonio Petruzzelli, and Francesca Pedron
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Introduction
Phytoremediation is becoming well-known word in both scientific literature and more popular publications. The word itself is derived from the Greek word phytos (plant) and the Latin word remedium (roughly translated as restoration of balance/ equilibrium). This makes phytoremediation a very broadly applied expression: in fact, it can be defined as any use of plants to restore the quality of soil, biota, water, and air (McCutcheon and Schnoor 2003; McCutcheon and Jørgensen 2008). Phytoremediation is considered the only solution which approaches the problem from an eco-sustainable point of view: environmentally friendly and relatively cheap. The United Nations Environment Program (2003) promotes its application as sustainable technology to remediate environmental pollution. Moreover, the European Union regulators proposed within the Directive 2008/1/EC a guideline to select the most suitable technique according to criteria such as environmental friendliness, preexisting scientific knowledge, or required time. Such guidelines leave stakeholders to choose the best remediation technology for their site, considering the economic, environmental, and social variables (Conesa et al. 2012). In this chapter the use of the phenomenon phytoremediation is narrowed down to heavy metals as pollutants and soils as the environmental compartment, focusing on phytoextraction (Raskin 1995; Blaylock et al. 1997) and phytostabilization (Berti and Cunningham 2000; Bolan et al. 2011). Phytoextraction aims to remove the heavy metal using specific plants, often in combination with specific soil additives,
M. Barbafieri (*) • G. Petruzzelli • F. Pedron Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Section of Pisa, National Research Council, Via Moruzzi, 1, 56125 Pisa, Italy e-mail: [email protected] J. Japenga • P. Romkens Alterra-Wageningen UR, Soil Science Centre, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands D.K. Gupta (ed.), Plant-Based Remediation Processes, Soil Biology 35, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-35564-6_2, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
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while phytostabilization aims to reduce the mobility/bioavailability of heavy metals in the soil and the re-vegetation of the site, often in combination with adding adsorbents and other chemicals to the soil (Kucharski et al. 2005; Mench et al. 2003). Normally technologies should be defined in detail regarding their application protocol, efficiency, and cost–benefit calculations. In the case of phytoextraction and phytostabilization, however, it is not possible to establish fixed schemes and procedures based on exact data from technology evaluations. This is limited by the nature of the technology itself which has to deal with soil complexity in relation to heavy metal biogeochemistry, plant behavior in relation to agronomic practice and climate conditions, variations in plant varieties w
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