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writing:phytoremediation [2026/02/20 00:55] – JacobCoffinWriteswriting:phytoremediation [2026/02/20 14:59] (current) – [What is Phytoremediation] JacobCoffinWrites
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 ==== What is Phytoremediation ==== ==== What is Phytoremediation ====
  
-Phytoremediation is the practice of using living plants to clean soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous substances. Plants can help clean up many types of contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, explosives, and oil. However, they work best where contaminant levels are low because high concentrations may limit plant growth and take too long to clean up. Plants can also help prevent wind, rain, and groundwater flow from carrying contaminants away from the site to surrounding areas or deeper underground.+Phytoremediation is the practice of using living plants to clean soil, air and water by absorbing or breaking down hazardous contaminants.  
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 +Plants can help clean up many types of contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, explosives, and oil. However, they work best where contaminant levels are low because high concentrations may limit plant growth and take too long to clean up. Plants can also help prevent wind, rain, and groundwater flow from carrying contaminants away from the site to surrounding areas or deeper underground.
  
 At its core principle, phytoremediation focuses on the ability of some plants to uniquely tolerate environmental pollutants. At its core principle, phytoremediation focuses on the ability of some plants to uniquely tolerate environmental pollutants.
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-==== Finding Premeditation Options That Fit Your Story and Setting ====+==== Finding Phytoremediation Options That Fit Your Story and Setting ====
  
-Bioremediation/Phytoremediation is a very new field, with tons of ongoing research. Fortunately much of that research is publicly available, though it’s often dense and somewhat hard to understand. And because it's often focused on lab results, it can be hard to glean details of what actual remediation in the field would look like.+Bioremediation/Phytoremediation are very new fields, with tons of ongoing research. Unless you go in with very specific requirements already in mind, you'll likely notice that there's an almost overwhelming number of options and variables to consider - there are hundreds of contaminants of concern, far more species that may work on them, and complex relationships where some species work on some contaminants but will be poisoned by others, or work best when supported by other species. Add to that concerns about accidentally importing invasive species and it can become quite a tangle. This isn't helped by the density of academic research language and the fact that these reports are often short on the sort of details which help when planning/writing depictions of remediation work in the field.
  
-The challenge is that there are absolute tons of contaminants out there, and far more plants that effect them in some way (and are effected by them in turn). Furthermore, these plants are part of a complex ecological network and +=== My workflow for finding suitable plants while not going insane ===
- +
-**My workflow for finding suitable plants while not going insane:**+
  
 Start with the contaminant of concern. Pick your poison, then look up which plants can be used to remediate, accumulate, or stabilize it. Start with the contaminant of concern. Pick your poison, then look up which plants can be used to remediate, accumulate, or stabilize it.
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 There are so many plants, contaminants of concerns, and varying ways the two interact that it really does need some review There are so many plants, contaminants of concerns, and varying ways the two interact that it really does need some review
  
-====Resources ==== 
  
-[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators|Wikipedia's list of known hyperaccumulators]] 
  
 +==== General details which might be useful ====
  
-[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vsbsZKa3q9bUwm9PnnEayDuQGLFi-HKIqSYYv8J7cy8/edit?usp=sharing|This document]] is an open source attempt to collect options for the bioremediation of dioxin, vinyl chloride and related toxins. +**Bioremediation** - [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666821122001193|This paper]] provides a detailed description and diagrams of the process of introducing bioremediation bacteria to contaminated aquifers. It includes details on the arrangement of wells for testing and remediation. The paper is about dechlorinators but it seems likely that other groundwater bioremediation projects might follow similar steps.  
- +  - Test the groundwater to determine the level of contamination and extent of the plume 
-https://web.archive.org/web/20230309211038/https://eeuroparts.com/blog/how-toxic-are-the-chemicals-in-your-car/ +  - Test for the presence of suitable bioremediation bacteria (and the symbiotic bacteria which enable them). Using native bacteria already present in the groundwater is preferred. Bacteria can also be invasive. 
- +      * If they are present, test to determine what, if any, chemical nutrients/additives/remediation would help them to thrive and work quickly 
-https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/sector_m_autosalvage.pdf+      * Biostimulation - pump the necessary solution into the aquifer 
 +  - If the concentration of contaminants is too high, or the right mix of dechlorinators aren’t present, they would try bioaugmentation - injecting pre-grown dechlorinator cultures along with the necessary substrate. 
  
 +[[https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-04/documents/engappinsitbio.pdf|This older report]] provides some similar information.
 +====Resources ====
  
 +  * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperaccumulators|Wikipedia's list of known hyperaccumulators]]
 +  * [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vsbsZKa3q9bUwm9PnnEayDuQGLFi-HKIqSYYv8J7cy8/edit?usp=sharing|This document]] is an open source attempt to collect options for the bioremediation of dioxin, vinyl chloride and related toxins.
 +  * The following documents provide decent lists of likely contaminants produced by internal combustion engine automobiles (such as you might find in a scrapyard, salvage operation, or car graveyard). 
 +      * https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/sector_m_autosalvage.pdf
 +      * https://web.archive.org/web/20230309211038/https://eeuroparts.com/blog/how-toxic-are-the-chemicals-in-your-car/
 +  * [[https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/940082TP.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1995%20Thru%201999&Docs=&Query=%28%28deep%20rooting%29%20or%20%28deep%20rooting%29%29%20OR%20FNAME%3D%22940082TP.txt%22%20AND%20FNAME%3D%22940082TP.txt%22&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C95THRU99%5CTXT%5C00000042%5C940082TP.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=34&SeekPage=f|This paper]] has some details on deep rooting poplar trees. 
 ==== Other concerns ==== ==== Other concerns ====