XVI International Botanical Congess

The potential use of plants to remediate contaminated soil and groundwater has received a great deal of interest from industry, academia, and government. Phytoremediation uses plants and their associated rhizospheric microorganisms to remove, degrade, or contain chemical contaminants located in soil and groundwater. A planted experimental channel system was used to treat trichloroethylene (TCE) and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in groundwater. Compared with the results of an unplanted channel, plants significantly increased the contaminant flux rates into the atmosphere and slowed down the movement of the contaminants with groundwater flow. Evapotranspiration appeared to be responsible for the loss of most of the volatile organic contaminants.