WHAT IS PHYTOREMEDIATON?
Phytoremediaton is the process using plants to clean up the environment. The word phytoremediation comes from the Greek word phyto, meaning "plant" and the Latin word remediare, meaning "to remedy". This word is generally used to describe any system where plants are introduced into an environment to remove contaminants from it. Phytoremediation is done in a variety of ways. The plants can be introduced into an environment and allowed to absorb contaminants into its leaves and roots. These plants can then be harvested and treated as hazardous waste. There have even been studies where these plants have turned the contaminant into a harmless substance and then once harvested can be used for mulch, animal feed, paper, etc. In some instances (especially if trees are being used) the plants are left in the environment and allowed to grow and mature as normal.

WHERE DID PHYTOREMEDIATION COME FROM?
The concept of using plants to clean up their environment is not a new one, but most research in this area was strictly in studying those few wild plants that actually grew in waste infested areas. It wasn’t until Dr. Ilya Raskin, a Russian born US educated scientist, came along that phytoremediation was actually born. Dr. Raskin, who not only came up with this new technology involving plants, but also named it: came to the United States in 1976. In 1989, he encountered a company called Envirogen Inc. which using micro-organisms to degrade and clean up oils and chemicals in soil. Dr. Raskin became interested in finding a similar technology to clean up heavy metals, one this micro-organisms just can’t do. It was at this point that Dr. Raskin remembered some reading he did back home. He states: "I remembered reading Russian papers from the 1930’s and 1940’s about geobotany, in which they prospected for minerals by looking at the plants. Some plants have a high capability of accumulating metals from the soil." These plants gave a clue to what minerals were under the surface, but couldn’t these same plants to used to absorb the metals from the soil? It was then that phytoremediation was born. Dr. Raskin spent many hours finding those plants that best took metals from their environment.

APPLICATIONS OF PHYTOREMEDIATION
Phytoremediation can and has been used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, land fill leachates, agricultural runoff, acid mine drainage, and radioactive contamination.

WHY USE PHYTOREMEDIATION?
Phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly, safe, cheap way to clean up contaminants. Early estimates on the costs have shown that plants could do that same job as a group of engineers for one tenth of the cost. The plants are also more pleasing to look at than many such operations are. The soil or water need not be gathered in and stored as hazardous waste, requiring large amounts of land, money, and manpower. Plants can be planted, watered, and then harvested with less manpower. If need be, the storage of the harvested plants as hazardous waste would be a far smaller amount. The main drawback on the use of this technology is that it isn’t good for all sites. If the contamination runs too deep or the contaminant concentration is too great, the plants alone can’t efficiently remediate the contaminated site.

SITES WHERE PHYYTOREMEDIATION HAS BEEN USED
Phytoremediaton has been used in many different locations. It is being used in Chernobyl with sunflowers to remove cesium 137 and strontium 90. Hybrid poplars have been used in Whitewood Creek in South Dakota to absorb arsenic from mine wastes and in Aberdeen , Maryland to remove trichloroethylene and polycyclic aromatic compounds from groundwater.

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