Marigold : A Phytoremediator Plant

Phytoremediation is a process that uses green plants for the insitu risk reduction for contaminated soil, sludge, sediments, and ground water through contaminant removal, degradation or containment. It has been shown to be more advantageous than conventional technologies for remediating heavy metal contaminated soils. The ability to cultivate a high biomass plant with a high content of toxic metals on a contaminated soil is a determining factor in the success of phytoremediation. In addition, the soluble of metal in the soil and availability of metal for plant uptake is another limitation for successful phytoremediation. Phytoextraction is the most recognized and applied phytoremediation technique for the decontamination of polluted soil. In phytoextraction, plants take up toxic metals from soil and concentrate them in the harvestable biomass. The present investigation is undertaken to study the phytotoxic effects of As and Pb on growth parameters and biochemical parameters and its phytoremediation through Tagetes erecta.