Metal Availability and Bioconcentration in Plants

Abstract

Most plants and animals depend on soil, as a growth substrate, for their sustained growth and development. In many instances the sustenance of life in the soil matrix is adversely affected by the presence of deleterious substances or contaminants. These pollutants can be broadly classified into two groups: (1) organic, which contain carbon, and (2) inorganic, devoid of carbon (Webber and Singh 1995). The focus of this chapter is to provide an overview of the plant-based remediation strategies for inorganic pollutants, while the use of such strategies for organic pollutants is also briefly discussed (for an indepth review see Cunningham et al. 1995).