A REVIEW OF PHYTOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES FOR SOILS POLLUTED WITH HEAVY METALS

Mining operations, industrial production and domestic and agricultural use of metal and metal containing compound have resulted in the release of toxic metals into the environment. Heavy metal pollution has serious implications for the human health and the environment. Since heavy metals are nonbiodegradable, they accumulate in the environment and subsequently contaminate the food chain. Few heavy metals are toxic and lethal in trace concentrations and can be teratogenic, mutagenic, endocrine disruptors while others can cause behavioral and neurological disorders among infants and children. Therefore, remediation of heavy metals contaminated soil could be the only effective option to reduce the negative effects on ecosystem health. Different physical and chemical methods used for this purpose suffer from serious limitations like high cost, intensive labor, alterationof soil properties and disturbance of soil native microorganisms. Phytoremediationis the use of plants and associated soil microbes to reduce the concentrations or toxic effects of contaminants in the environments. In this article are reviewed the stratagies in the phytoremediation for remediating heavy metals from polluted soils. Phytoextraction and phytostabilization are the most promising and alternative methods for soil reclamation