ABSTRACT
Traditional agricultural practices are based mainly on maintaining sufficient soil fertility to obtain appropriate crop yield. However, soils are not only a source of nutrients for plants, but also a potential source of metals, which decrease crop productivity and may pose a risk to human health. Over the last decades, recurrent cases of soil pollution by metals are appearing in diverse geographical locations throughout the world, mostly associated with inefficient management of industrial wastewater effluents, poor containment of mining leachates and residues, and as a consequence of natural geological sources. Among the eco-friendly cleanup technologies, in situ contaminant stabilization (“inactivation”) and plant-based approaches (“phytoremediation”) are proposed to cope with the above-mentioned contamination challenge. In this chapter, the authors discuss the main plant species suitable for phytoremediating metal-polluted soils, and the most appropriate agronomic techniques to increase phytoremediation efficiency (e.g., pruning, plant density, soil pH, fertilization).
