A major environmental concern due to dispersal of industrial and urban wastes generated by human activities is the contamination of soil. Controlled and uncontrolled disposal of waste, accidental and process spillage, mining and smelting of metalliferous ores, sewage sludge application to agricultural soils are responsible for the migration of contaminants into non-contaminated sites as dust or leachate and contribute towards contamination of our ecosystem. There are a number of conventional remediation technologies which are employed to remediate environmental contamination with heavy metals such as solidification, soil washing and permeable barriers. But a majority of these technologies are costly to implement and cause further disturbance to the already damaged environment. Phytoremediation is evolving as a cost-effective alternative to high-energy, high-cost conventional methods. It is considered to be a “Green Revolution” in the field of innovative clean up technologies. Bioremediation by use of plants constitutes phytoremediation.
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