#phytoremediation

[onestellarghost]

On phytoremediation, specifically the efficacy of poplar trees to clean petroleum contaminated soil and groundwater, from a study in West Virgina!

[mending-magpie]

It's nearly spring foraging time here and I hope everyone knows to check and double check foraged things like mushrooms and berries before eating them. However, if you are foraging foods in an urban area or planning on doing some guerrilla gardening, you need also need to be careful!

Foraged plants, either found or grown, can be a great and varied source of food and herbal remedies. However, there are several ways food in an urban environment can become contaminated. If you eat them, they could make you sick either immediately or in the future. There are just a couple safe foraging suggestions, feel free too add on!

• Avoid plants that grow directly next to a roadway when possible. These plants are constantly exposed to car fumes and road runoff (road salt, oil, etc). They can also absorb contaminates from litter like cigarette butts or from pesticides. Instead, look for areas further from the road. These are typically safer, although they may still be unhealthy, which brings us to my second point.

• Check the lot before you plant/eat! This one is a bit harder, but very important. Abandoned plots can make great areas for guerrilla gardening, but depending on what was there the soil may contain harmful chemicals or heavy metals. Search online or in city records, ask your neighbors, find out what the building or plot was used for. Manufacturing companies in particular are huge culprits for soil contamination. There are also soil test kits for various chemicals that range in accuracy and price, if you want to check the land first.

• If a plot has an unsavory history, it may not be safe for edible plants because they could transfer those substances to you. It is possible (and wonderful) to remove contaminants from the soil through phytoremediation, depending on what they are. However, plants grown in contaminants can impact foraging animals and pollinators, so it may be better to forgo planting at all in an area with certain contaminants. These spaces could possibly be a space for container gardening, raised plots with soil separate from the original dirt, or other non-garden related activities.

[just-a-cup-of-anxietea]

Look!!! Look at this chart!!! I am SWOONING

They included a visual cue for the key terms!!! I almost never see that in higher ed!!! THAT’S SO COOL. (Source: Phyto by Kate Kennan)

[venvsflyytrapp]

POV

I’m in South Memphis at my favorite stump, in the blackest park. Smoking my blunt, reading my phytoextraction notes and tarot. Then I moved to the lake side between 2 trees to sun bathe.

Spring is here. 🌿

[scottysystembuster]

Water Pollution and Chemical Cleanup with Modified Hemp Core

https://electrohemp.blogspot.com/2023/02/phyto-rafts-water-pollution-cleanup.html

THE POLLUTION SOLUTION SPECIALIZES IN TECHNIQUES AND SERVICES FOR NATURALLY INSPIRED AND COST EFFECTIVE REMOVAL AND REMEDIATION OF TOXINS AND CONTAMINANTS FROM AIR, SOIL, AND WATER. WE ARE THE POLLUTION SOLUTION

[annimovsisyan]

Sunflowers, Cleaners of Nuclear Disasters › United Academics Magazine

Since the development of nuclear power, we face the delicate balance between its smart usage and the threat it poses not only to humanity, b

[lunefrog]

An Alphabetized List of Phytoremediating Plants and What They Do

For starters: What is Phytoremediation? According to cpeo.org it is a bioremediation process by which plants are used to remove, transfer, stabilize, and/or destroy contaminants in soil and groundwater. [link]

Why I am making this list: I can't explain properly in words why this is important to me. Clean the land you live on.

Alyssum: Relatives of the brassicas! Delightful little groundcover plants, i assume that since they're relatives they'd serve a similar role to the brassicas. used for phytoimmobilization. [x]

Ascolepis: A grass tuft plant that i couldn't find much information on. Used for phytoimmobilization. [x]

Brassicaceae: Brassicas specifically are good at absorbing heavy metals, and produce plenty of biomass in the process. [x]

Gladiolus: Cormus flowers, relatives of the iris! Pretty popular decorative plants. Used for phytoimmobilization. [x]

Haumaniastrum: A genus of flowering plants in the mint species. Cultivated for purposes of phytoimmobilization. [x]

Indian Mustard Brassica juncea L: Described by land8.com as the "star of this group", it is especially good at cleaning up heavy metal in the soil, because it spreads rapidly. [x]

Indian Grass Sorghastrum nutans: A grass species native to the midwestern united states, remarkable for its ability to neutralize some pesticides and herbicides. [x]

Lovegrass Eragrostis: A species of grasses found all over the world. Little friends, cultivated for purposes of phytoimmobilization. [x]

Myriophyllium spicatum: Little aquatic plants with enzymatic systems similar to Poplars, considered invasive in the Americas. [x]

Sunflower Helianthus annuus: Perhaps one of the most famous bioremediators, because, and i'm not kidding, it fucking loves to eat toxins and heavy metals. One experiment also had one month old sunflowers remove 95% of uranium in 24 hours. [x]

Two-Grooved Milkvetch Astragalus bisulcatus: native to central and western north america, likes to eat Selenium. used for phytovolatilzation. [x]

Poplar tree Populus deltoides and Populus deltoides x Marshall eastern cottonwood: Apparently, due to their specialized roots, they can filter large amounts of groundwater. Hybrid trees are said to be able to face carcinogens better. [x]

Willow tree Salix: Another tree whose specialized roots allow it to accumulate heavy metals, apparently good for clearing out deisel pollution. [x]

[himekokosu]

Sun flower

Himawari