Phytoremediation: A Sustainable Approach for Restoration of Metal Contaminated Sites

Heavy metal pollution is one of the major ecological concerns worldwide which pose threat to plants as well as animals. Heavy metals are highly toxic, often non-biodegradable and may reduce the growth of microbial communities present in soil, thereby retard the bioremediation processes. These toxic metals are readily taken up by plants from soil and water through roots, and increase in heavy metal concentration causes phytotoxic effects i. e. growth, physiological, biochemical and molecular processes in plants. Therefore, phytoremediation is a sustainable approach for the clean-up of metal contaminated sites. Phytoremediation, the technology involved use of plants to remediate to sites contaminated with organic and inorganic pollutants as well as pollutants removed for commercial purposes.