Advances and the effects of industrial hemp for the cleanup of heavy metal pollution

Abstract

With the intensification of human activities, such as industry, agriculture, wastewater treatment, construction, and mining, there has been increasingly serious pollutions on soil, surface water, groundwater, and atmosphere. As a result, sizably polluted areas cannot be used for agricultural development. To address these problems, the focus of the current research is how to further improve various methods of pollution remediation. Since traditional remediation technologies are very expensive, and the risk of the secondary pollution is still high, phytoremediation technology has garnered increasing attention from academic and government institutions. Phytoremediation technology is cheap, clean, environmentally friendly, and without any risk of secondary pollution. Industrial hemp is a candidate phytoremediation plant for the cleanup of heavy metal pollutions because it has an excellent remediation effect, and it is now receiving significant research attention. The present review summarizes the following aspects: (1) the effects of heavy metals on the growth, sex expression, and THC content of industrial hemp, and the distribution of heavy metals in different organs of industrial hemp; (2) the plant's capacity for removal and detoxification of heavy metals; (3) and the problems facing phytoremediation technology of industrial hemp at present. All of the above may provide useful information about phytoremediation technology, industrial hemp cultivation, and breeding of hyperaccumulated industrial hemp.