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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for August 24, 1999
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How can plants clean up toxic chemicals?
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Toxic chemicals contaminate many places around the world. Traditional
cleanup methods are expensive and difficult, and may require digging
up soil for reprocessing, which destroys the natural biology of the
soil. There is a simpler way to clean up toxic sites that takes
advantage of nature's tools.
A natural ecosystem like a wetlands or a forest purifies the
environment by removing toxic substances from the soil, water, and
air. In a process called phytoremediation, this natural purification
is harnessed by growing carefully selected plants at the toxic waste
site.
The plants remove heavy metals, pesticides, or organic solvents from
the ground. Some poisons are transformed into harmless substances,
and others are concentrated in plant tissues where they can be
controlled.
More about phytoremediation:
http://clu-in.org/products/citguide/phyto2.htm
http://www.wes.army.mil/el/phyto/
Constructed wetlands can also be used for natural waste cleanup:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/04/26.html
Today's Cool Word is phytoremediation:
http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/08/24.html
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