Phytoremediation: Plant Based Technology for Cleaning Up Contaminated Environment

Phytoremediation, an innovative and cost effective technology for environmental clean up, takes advantage of the natural abilities of the plants to take up, accumulate, store or degrade organic or inorganic substances. It is considered as an environmentally friendly means of reducing the metal load of contaminated substrate and offers cost advantage over the traditional methods, such as landfill, excavation, fixing or leaching. The present review focuses on recent advances in the area of phytoremediation.