Determination of heavy metals in the territory of contaminated areas of Greece and their restoration through hyperaccumulators

Abstract

Phytoremediation is an effective technique for the processing of contaminated soil and for sequestering environmental contaminants such as heavy metals. This kind of pollution is ubiquitous in mines and similar excavation sites. This mini-review aims to provide an overview of the alternative forms of restoring contaminated soils (phytoremediation) highlighting the areas of Kozani (Agios Dimitrios) and Chalkidiki (Stratoni) in Greece characterized by exorbitant metallurgical activities. Firstly, a literature search in databases such as ScienceDirect, SciFinder, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus was conducted, using the following keywords to identify relevant articles: "utilization", "plants", "phytoremediation", "sustainability", "environment", and "restoration". Two case studies have subsequently been chosen in Northern Greece, one characterized by metal mining (Pb, Zn, Ag) and hot summer Mediterranean climate and another one involving lignite mining and concomitant Cr, Zn, Cu, and Ni pollution under subtropical climate. Based on the literature search some possible, non-invasive plant species were proposed, focusing on the most efficient hyperaccumulators.