Abstract
Currently, the pollution of soils by heavy metals is a problem of paramount relevance and requires the development of proper remediation techniques. In particular, lead is a frequently detected soil contaminant that poses adverse effects to the environment and human health. In this review, we provide an overview of the bioremediation treatments promoted by plants (phytoremediation), fungi, or bacteria that could be applied to areas polluted by lead. These restoration processes have the advantage of being environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions that exploit plants to immobilize and extract contaminants from soil and water, and fungi and bacteria to degrade them. Phytoremediation is an extensively studied and mature practice, with many in-the-field applications where numerous plant species have been employed. In contrast, bioremediation processes promoted by fungi and bacteria are very promising but, up to now, studies have been mostly performed at a laboratory scale with only a few implementations in real-world situations; therefore, further research is needed.
Highlights
Lead is one of the major contaminants present in soil on a global scale [1,2], and numerous studies have pointed out its harmful effects on the environment and human health
The severity of the adverse effects on human health depends both on the dose and on the length of the exposure to lead, which can occur by inhalation or through the consumption of polluted water, vegetables, and animals farmed in soils rich in this heavy metal [13]
Lead is a ubiquitous contaminant that poses a danger to human health, and one of the main routes of exposure is the consumption of plant species grown in polluted soils
Summary
Lead is one of the major contaminants present in soil on a global scale [1,2], and numerous studies have pointed out its harmful effects on the environment and human health. Lead is present in soil in various forms, characterized by different mobility, toxicity, and bioavailability. Its chemical form in soil is affected by numerous processes, e.g., precipitation and dissolution, ion exchange, absorption and desorption, complexation, immobilization and biological mobilization, and absorption by plants. Sci. 2020, 10, 3528 aims to focus on the different bioremediation strategies applied so far and will consider various studies concerning both the use of plants for phytoremediation and the exploitation of fungi and bacteria for the removal or stabilization of lead in the soil. Several processes have been extensively studied in recent years, with the aim of replacing traditional chemical and physical methods and implementing the use of environmentally friendly techniques to restore soils
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