ABSTRACT
There is substantial literature on the uptake of essential elements by plants, but there has been considerably less attention given to the absorption of toxic metals. Lately, there has been much more emphasis on this latter topic because of environmental concerns of heavy metal toxicity, carcinogenicity, and mutagenicity. Also, there is increasing interest in the potential use of plants for the reclamation of contaminated soil and water by the processes of phytorem ediation, phytoextraction, and phytostabilization.
