Phytotechnologies
Additional Resources
Databases
Phytotechnology Project Profiles Database
Over 165 projects encompassing international, completed, and ongoing phytotechnology applications have been found in the literature and documented in this database. Each profile contains information about relevant site background, the types of contaminants treated, type of vegetation used, phytotechnology mechanisms, planting date, project size, location, cost, monitoring and performance results, as well as points of contact and references.
This searchable database contains abstracts of recent research results from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. Information concerning ARS/USDA phytoremediation studies can be found there.
Technology Innovation News Survey
The Technology Innovation News Survey contains market/commercialization information; reports on demonstrations, feasibility studies and research; and other news relevant to the hazardous waste community interested in technology development. The database is updated every two weeks. Search Archives for 'Phytotechnologies'
Treatment Technologies for Site Cleanup: Annual Status Report (ASR)
U.S. EPA, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation.
This report documents treatment technology applications at more than 1,900 soil and groundwater cleanup projects at National Priorities List (NPL) sites. The ASR is based on the analysis of Records of Decision signed since 1982. Specific information about each technology application is available in the ASR Remediation Database. ASR Remediation Database
Interest Groups
COST 859: Phytotechnologies to Promote Sustainable Land Use and Improve Food Safety
During its 5-year period of activity (2004-2009), COST Action 859 demonstrated ways in which plants can be used to accumulate toxic metals and organic pollutants from contaminated sites for cleanup purposes, to prevent further degradation of our environment, and to remediate damage caused by an industrialized society. It also showed that crops with a reduced capacity to accumulate toxic metals and organic pollutants in edible parts are valuable to improve food safety.
International Phytotechnology Society
The International Phytotechnology Society (IPS) is a nonprofit, worldwide professional society comprised of individuals and institutions engaged in the science and application of using plants to deal with environmental problems. Abstracts from the International Phytotechnologies Conference are available on the site.
Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC)
ITRC is a state-led coalition working together with industry and stakeholders to achieve regulatory acceptance of environmental technologies. A team of state regulators and phytotechnology experts has produced several resources on phytotechnologies, including a 2009 update.
Phytoremediation Electronic Newsgroup Network, sponsored by the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Parma, Italy
PHYTOREM LISTSERV
Kansas State University.
This mailing list is for the discussion of research and development of the use of plants to remediate contamination. Any topic relevant to the use of plants for the remediation of soils, sediments, and groundwater is appropriate.
Multimedia Resources
The Clean Green-Phytoremediation
U.S. EPA, Environmental Response Team, 15 minutes, 2001
At the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, a field-scale pilot project uses poplar trees to contain toxic materials in a limited area and possibly degrade them into nontoxic byproducts. At a former battery manufacturing facility in Trenton, New Jersey, a field of lead-tolerant plants is removing lead from the soil around the outside of the factory building.
Crozet Phytoremediation
U.S. EPA, CLU-IN Publications and Studio, 16 minutes, 2007
This video shows how specialized ferns are being used to manage arsenic contamination from past pesticide use at a small residential property in Crozet, Virginia. The video discusses the financial and ecological advantages this process has over traditional techniques. The project incorporates many of the principles of Green Remediation.
Presentations, Papers, & Reports
2000 Phytoremediation: State of the Science Conference, Boston, Massachusetts
2003 International Applied Phytotechnologies Conference
This conference provided technical information and assisted professionals in the regulatory community tasked with oversight of design, implementation, and monitoring at sites that use phytotechnology. Information on international efforts was provided by speakers from Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America.
2005 Third International Phytotechnologies Conference, April 20-22, 2005
This conference contributed to the understanding of different plant-based technologies, provided examples of the integration of research science and field applications, and identified research needs.
2007 Fourth International Phytotechnologies Conference, September 24-26, 2007
The International Phytotechnology Society has posted the conference agenda and abstracts on its Web site.
2009 Sixth International Phytotechnologies Conference, December 1-4, 2009: Abstracts
Linking Phytoremediated Pollutant Removal to Biomass Economic Opportunities
L.A. Licht and J.G. Isebrands. Manuscript version of a paper published in Biomass and Bioenergy 28(2):203-218(2005)
Case studies of commercial applications of phytohydraulic control of leachate, surface water, or groundwater are presented for a riparian buffer, a landfill buffer vegetation filter, a landfill cap of poplar trees, and the Ashland Chemical Superfund site.
New Technologies to Compute Transpiration and Water Balances for Phytoremediation Projects
M. McClung and M. van Bavel.
IP Tech, 17 presentation slides, 2005
Phyto 2009: The Final International Conference on Phytotechnologies to Promote Sustainable Land Use and Improve Food Safety, Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland, 11-16 October 2009: Book of Abstracts.
European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research: COST Action 859, Brussels, 208 pp, 2009
The final conference presentations sum up major outlines, outcomes, and perspectives emanated from COST Action 859; highlight significant progress recently made in Europe and elsewhere; and discuss critical points in overcoming bottlenecks in plant removal and detoxification of pollutants.
Phytotechnologies in Practice: Biomass Production, Agricultural Methods, Legacy, Legal and Economic Aspects, October 14-17, 2008, Verneuil-en-Halatte, France: Book of Abstracts
INERIS (Inst. National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques), ISBN: 978-2-85498-024-0, 107 pp, 2008
This book of abstracts documents the October 2008 meeting of COST Action 859 Working Group 4 for the integration and application of phytotechnologies. The program focused on two main topics: phytotechnologies in practice (phytoextraction, phytostabilization, constructed wetlands, phytoremediation of organics), and the legacy, legal, and economic aspects of biomass production and valorization. The final session was devoted to the potential of phytoremediation in emerging countries, particularly to application of phytotechnologies on contaminated areas around Chernobyl and plant uptake of heavy metals in dredged aquatic sediments in Vietnam.
Radionuclide Biological Remediation Resource Guide
EPA 905-B-04-001, 68 pp, 2004
This guide presents technical information and identifies resources related to phytotechnologies, bioremediation, and other cleanup technologies applicable to radioactive materials.
Web Sites
Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment Technology Transfer: Phytoremediation
AFCEE provides a brief description of plant-based cleanup technologies for soil and groundwater, with references to additional resources.
Bioremediation and Phytoremediation Glossary
This glossary presents terms related to bioremediation (biological treatment) and phytoremediation (remediation using green plants) of environmental pollutants. Links to other environmental glossaries are at the bottom of the page. Copyright 1998
Dendroremediation Web Site
Michigan State University, Department of Forestry, East Lansing, MI. 2005
Dendroremediation is the use of trees or woody plants to clean contaminated soil and water. Researchers in Michigan State University's Department of Forestry maintain this site, which contains presentations, research notes, and an extensive bibliographic reference compilation.
The International Journal of Phytoremediation
This journal is the first serial publication devoted to the presentation of current laboratory and field research describing the use of plant systems to remediate contaminated environments.
Making the Case for Ecological Enhancements
Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) and the Wildlife Habitat Council.
ECO-1, 86 pp, 2004
Phytotechnologies used in remediation can play a part in ecological restoration. This report contains 25 brief brownfield reclamation case studies, 14 of which involve phytoremediation (both successes and failures). The 25 studies plus new case studies are available individually on the Wildlife Habitat Council's Web site.
Phytoremediation
University of Colorado, Department of Biology, Student Projects.
In a series of Web-based reports, students at the University of Colorado have developed reviews focused on different uses of phytotechnologies for a wide range of contamination problems.
Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team
Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF).
The former Action Team's mission was to bring together technological, environmental, and regulatory interests to develop and demonstrate phytoremediation technologies that can clean up soils and groundwater contaminated with organics, and to achieve regulatory and public acceptance of these technologies. The Technical Documents section contains reports, meeting summaries, information on phytoremediation demonstration projects, and a searchable database of over 1,100 citations. Although the RTDF became inactive at the end of June 2006, the Web site and all RTDF products will be available until at least 2010.
U.S. Geological Survey, Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
- Using Phytoremediation to Control Fuel Oxygenate Plumes in Northern Climates
- Can Trees Clean Up Ground Water? Phytoremediation of Trichloroethene-Contaminated Ground Water at Air Force Plant 4, Fort Worth, Texas
- Phytoremediation in the Desert?
Woodlands as a Reclamation Strategy: Case Studies
Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Brief overviews are provided of phytotechnologies in place at the Sudbury mining area in Sudbury, Canada; a manufacturing facility in Stratford, WI; and Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, TX.
