Phytoremediation Popularity Growing

Phytoremediation is a form of bioremediation that makes use of plants to degrade or sequester contaminants in soil and groundwater. While the technology is not new, it seems current trends suggest its popularity is growing. This may be due to several factors. One is that the technology has seen some significant developments and a variety of different types of phytoremediation now exist. Genetic studies and cloning technologies have helped us learn more about plant physiology and how to improve uptake or degradation rates, and the use of genetically engineered plants, better suited to the environments to which they are subjected, has improved the phytoremediation process.

The increasing popularity of this technology might also be due to a number of economic and societal factors. For example, phytoremediation for sequestering metals in soil can be a much less expensive, and aesthetically pleasing option than "dig and dump" (i.e.carting the soil off to a landfill). The downside is how long it takes (you have wait for the plants to grow and mature before harvesting) but I think the payoffs are worth it, since phyto, or any bioremediation, when designed well, can be model examples of green biotechnologies.