Contamination in Brazil and São Paulo State
More than 2400 contaminated areas has been already described, exposing directly at least 2.6 million people in the country
Main national contaminants: pesticides (20%), fuels (16%), industrial waste (12%) and heavy metals (11%)
Source: Ministério da Saúde, 2006
Phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil: survey of species and associated techniques for future applications
Inh
abit
ants
Number of inhabitants potentially exposed to contaminated soils per Brazilian States from 2004 - 2008
The State of São Paulo has the largest number of contaminated areas and the highest levels of contamination of Brazil. Societies and whole environment have being exposed to various toxic agents, mostly by aromatic solvents, fuels and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and also by pesticides. Obsoletes organochlorines from old industries, for example, represents critical contaminations situations in the State, where its impacts are harmful, since in addition to high toxicity, they are persistent, accumulating along food chains.
Biological remediation solutions
Phytoremediation: favors and/or stimulate natural mechanisms that lead to the removal and/or degradation of contaminants, as organochlorine compounds, using plant species. These techniques even amplify the recovery of landscape and represent relative low investment.
Adapted Pilon-Smits, 2005
The search for solutions to remediate contaminated areas by organochlorines has been widespread through various physical, chemical and even biological technologies. Biological techniques are concentrated in using of microorganisms and/or vegetation and are proving to be very promising for the decontamination of organochlorine compounds in soils and groundwater, since they favor and stimulate natural mechanisms leading to removal and degradation.
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Plant family
Survey of phytoremediation of organic contaminants
Phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil: survey of species and associated techniques for future applications
We surveyed phytoremediator plant species for organic contaminants, with emphasis on organochlorine compounds, and those occurring on contaminated areas (for being tolerant in contaminated environments), to generate a database to support future research on phytoremediation. The main scientific databases were consulted between April 2010 and December 2011; these being Web of Science, SciELO, Highwire, Scirus, ScienceDirect, Scopus and LILACS, in addition of the collective information from universities, institutes and companies.
Phytoremediator plant species
Species N°: 164Families N°: 47
Families that stood out: Poaceae and Fabaceae, with species and genera
that occur in the edaphoclimatic
conditions of São Paulo
Species N°: 38Families N°: 35
Over again Poaceae is proemint due to common
references to genus Brachiaria, Digitaria and
Pennisetum
USDA.org
Examples of some phytoremediator plant species from main cited families
Andropogon gerardiiVitman (Poaceae),
big blue stem
Leucaena leucocephala(Lam.) de Wit
(Fabaceae), leucena
IAP.PR.gov.br
Populus trichocarpaTorr. & A. Gray
(Salicaceae), poplar
rydberg.biology.colostate.edu
Potential phytoremediator plant species
Examples of phytoremediator species (dark line border) and potentially phytoremediator (lighter line border) occurring in areas contaminated by Hexachlorocyclohexane organochlorine in São Paulo State:
Xanthium strumarium L.(Asteraceae), carrapichão
Solanum paniculatum L. (Solanaceae), jurubeba
Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae),
mamona
Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae), cambará
Surveyed plant species in contaminated site in São Paulo
Phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil: survey of species and associated techniques for future applications
Potential applications of phytoremediation
Recent research and international cases have demonstrated great efficiency with the use of several plant species, associated directly or indirectly to microorganisms in the remediation of contaminated areas. Nevertheless, knowledge and application of this technology are still scarce in Brazil. In general, the soil and climatic conditions in Brazil are very favorable to deployment of phytotechnologies to increase processes of natural attenuation and remediation of contaminated areas by organic pollutants.
Example of contaminated site in São Paulo State which has being studied by the authors since 2010. A. High concentrations of contaminants are buried in the flat portion of the site covered only by herbaceous plant species and small shrubs. B. Occurrence points of flooding colonized by Typhas sp.
A B
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) Project N°3791.01.Aand all the researchers consulted of IAC, UNICAMP, UFES (Brazil), USC (Spain) and CSIR (India).
Acknowledgements
Phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soil: survey of species and associated techniques for future applications
Subsidizing research in phytoremediation
Through this survey about phytoremediator plant species for organic compounds, as organochlorine and others pesticides, and those occurring on contaminated areas (for being tolerant in contaminated environments) a database was created by the authors to support future research on phytoremediation in order to be applied on a contaminated site in São Paulo State.
Also, complementary techniques, associated directly or indirectly to phytoremediation were outlined for evaluation. The intensification of the processes of natural degradation, e.g. by applying organic matter improves soil quality, increases microbial colonization, promoting more efficient and faster organochlorine degradation.
vivbizclub.com jardinagemepaisagismo.com
The database table includes scientific species names and family (according to Tropicos.org), popular name, organic contaminant, mechanism involved in phytoremediation or totolerance of each
reference.
Application of sugarcane bagasse and organic matter influences organic contaminants mobility and degradation
which can favor phytoremediation process.
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