Rhizofiltration: Clean Water From Hydroponic Plants
In the United States, the nuclear industrial complex has left parts of the environment so contaminated that it will take decades, and possibly hundreds of billions of dollars, to clean up. Thousands of square kilometers of land and water around the globe are contaminated with radioactive fallout and waste from energy and weapons research.
Many industrial sites are contaminated with lead, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, copper, and chromium caused by the mining, smelting, chemical, and manufacturing industries.
Organic pollutants (such as the solvents acetone, benzene, or chlorinated hydrocarbons) are also a problem. Military bases and chemical plants (abandoned or active) often contain locally contaminated sites which include areas subjected to fuel spills or chemicals used to wash and clean aircraft and other machinery. At several U.S. locations, underground plumes of chlorinated solvents and high explosive residues are slowly expanding to threaten water supplies.
As discouraging as these situations are, we are making progress in remediating water and soil contaminated by human activities. Green plants--powered by solar energy--are attracting a remarkable degree of attention, with the emergence of “phytoremediation” (see *The Growing Edge, Vol. 8, No. 3*). Recent research has fueled optimism about using plants to remediate contaminated soil and water in an Earth-friendly and economically viable way. It has also spawned a slew of companies hoping to claim some of the glory.
