Phytoextract

Environmental pollution and toxic heavy metal accumulation has increased exponentially over the last decade due to various natural and anthropogenic activities. Pollutants in the environment affect the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and as a whole biosphere. Scientists all over the world over the years made significant contributions to eradicate sources of pollution and remedy the already contaminated areas. Since heavy metals are non-biodegradable, they persist in the environment and have the potential to enter the food chain ultimately leading to biomagnification that would put human lives at risk. Thus, remediation of contaminated soil and water takes precedence. Hence, Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to mitigate heavy metal contaminations. More than 300 plant species with potential for soil and water remediation have been noted so far. In this paper, a brief review of recent understanding and working progress in research as well as practical applications of phytoremediation for water and soil resources has been undertaken.