Limiting and Experimental Factors

Practical applications of phytoremediation are essential for the clean-up of moderately and severely contaminated sites in an economical and environmentally responsible way. The usage of plants to do a job that would otherwise be done by chemicals or energy intensive soil removal is a natural choice on several levels. First, by using plants for clean-up, pollutants are being absorbed by nature and cleansed in the most natural way, all while aiding in restoring the site. Second, and perhaps most importantly, phytoremediation is a low energy and low input process. Usage of fossil fuels and other chemicals are kept to a minimum and, in most cases, phytoremediation yields better results than that alternative. Economically, phytoremediation is also the method of choice in nearly all application scenarios.