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Is phytoremediation a sustainable and reliable approach to clean-up contaminated water and soil in Alpine areas?

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Abstract

Background, aim and scope

Phytoremediation does exploit natural plant physiological processes and can be used to decontaminate agricultural soils, industrial sites, brownfields, sediments and water containing inorganic and organic pollutants or to improve food chain safety by phytostabilisation of toxic elements. It is a low-cost and environment friendly technology targetting removal, degradation or immobilisation of contaminants. The aim of the present review is to highlight some recent advances in phytoremediation in the Alpine context.

Main features

Case studies are presented where phytoremediation has been or can be successfully applied in Alpine areas to: (1) clean-up industrial wastewater containing sulphonated aromatic xenobiotics released by dye and textile industries; (2) remediate agricultural soils polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons; (3) improve food chain safety in soils contaminated with toxic trace elements (As, Co, Cr and Pb); and (4) treat soils impacted by modern agricultural activities with a special emphasis on phosphate fertilisation.

Conclusions, recommendations and perspectives

Worlwide, including in Alpine areas, the controlled use of appropriate plants is destined to play a major role for remediation and restoration of polluted and degraded ecosystems, monitoring and assessment of environmental quality, prevention of landscape degradation and immobilisation of trace elements. Phytotechnologies do already offer promising approaches towards environmental remediation, human health, food safety and sustainable development for the 21st century in Alpine areas and elsewhere all over the world.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of the European project Alps Bio Cluster (Biotech and Medtech in Alpine Space), http://www.alpsbiocluster.eu.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology, EPFL, Station 6, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel

  2. Land, Environment and Geo-Engineering Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Turin, Italy

    Elena Comino

  3. EPTES Sarl, Rue de la Madeleine 28, 1800, Vevey, Switzerland

    Nadia Plata

  4. Department of Microbe-Plant Interactions, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstrasse 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany

    Mohammadali Khalvati

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  1. Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel
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  4. Mohammadali Khalvati
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Correspondence to Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel.

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Schwitzguébel, JP., Comino, E., Plata, N. et al. Is phytoremediation a sustainable and reliable approach to clean-up contaminated water and soil in Alpine areas?. Environ Sci Pollut Res 18, 842–856 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-011-0498-0

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