Abstract
Arsenic contamination of the environment is a serious problem threatening the health of millions of people exposed to arsenic (As) via drinking water and crops grown in contaminated areas. The remediation of As-contaminated soil and water bodies needs to be sustainable, low-cost and feasible to apply in the most affected low-to-middle income countries, like India and Bangladesh. Phytoremediation is an aesthetically appreciable and successful approach that can be used for As decontamination with use of the best approach(es) and the most promising plant(s). However, phytoremediation lacks the required speed and sometimes the stress caused by As could diminish plants’ potential for remediation. To tackle these demerits, we need augment plants’ potential with appropriate technological methods including microbial and nanoparticles applications and genetic modification of plants to alleviate the As stress and enhance As accumulation in phytoremediator plants. The present review discusses the As phytoremediation prospects of soil and water bodies and the usefulness of various plant systems in terms of high biomass, high As accumulation, bioenergy potential, and economic utility. The potential and prospects of assisted phytoremediation approaches are also presented.
Highlights
Arsenic (As) contamination of the soil and water is a serious problem in several parts of the world, especially in South and Southeast Asian countries
The results suggest the potential of P. vittata for phytoremediation purposes; the use of P. vittata has been mostly in hydroponics limited to pilot-scale studies
The application of fullerene nanoparticles could stimulate found to counteract the toxic effects of different metals in Zea mays [128], Glycine max the phytoavailability of soil contaminants [124]
Summary
Arsenic (As) contamination of the soil and water is a serious problem in several parts of the world, especially in South and Southeast Asian countries. When the groundwater in the area has As contamination, its use for irrigation adds a huge amount of As to the soil every year [6,7] Another important point to consider is the fact that rice is the best-known accumulator of As among crop plants [8]. The treatment of huge amounts of water/soil under in situ conditions by physico-chemical methods would be extremely costly [14], while the use of plants for this purpose would make the process very slow In this regard, any method should have feasibility for application at the site itself, low-cost and be sustainable. The main challenge in using nanoparticles for the remediation of pollutants is the lack of an adequate number of reports proving its efficacy
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