International Journal of Innovations in Bio-Sciences ISSN 2277-2367

Vol. 2 (4), 2012, pp. 193-199 http://www.parees.co.in/ijibs.htm

RHIZOFILTRATION: A GREEN TECHNOLOGY FOR

REMEDIATION OF HEAVY METALS
Rawat, Krishna, M. H. Fulekar and Bhawana Pathak
School of Environment and Sustainable Development
Central University of Gujarat,
Sector 30, GandhiNagar, Gujarat
Abstract
With the growing industrial and developmental activities pollution of heavy metal has become a
environmental problem. Though metals are natural constituent of nature, yet their excess presence may
cause toxicity to the living world. Concerning alternatives, phytoremediation is an emerging technology
for treating waste water. Rhizofiltration is a technique of utilizing plant roots to absorb, concentrate, and
precipitate toxic metals from concentrated ground water or polluted effluents. As such 400 plants that
hyperaccumulate metals are reported. The present paper highlights Rhizofiltration techniques,
mechanism of Rhizofiltration, significance of Rhizofiltration for remediation of heavy metals.
Rhizofiltration is based on the potential of green plants which can be used as green technology for
remediation of heavy metals. Further, genetic engineering can be adopted for enhancing potential of
plants for Rhizofiltration.
Keywords: Heavy metals, Rhizofiltration, Genetic engineering.

INTRODUCTION amounts of heavy metals are always present in

Metals are natural constituents of nature.
During this century, metals constitute an
important group of environmentally hazardous
substances as many water bodies in India and
all over world have received excess inputs of
heavy metals as a result of an increased
atmospheric deposition and anthropogenic
activities (such as industrial waste water
discharges, sewage wastewater, fossil fuel
combustion). History of metal pollution dates
back to the year 1970, when concern about
environmental pollution increased. Since then
researchers are motivated for finding new cost
effective technique for treating waste water
contaminated with heavy metals. Florence and
Batley (1980) stated that heavy metals are
present in trace amounts in most natural water,
concentration being less than one µgm/l. The
heavy metals when present beyond permissible
limits acts as pollutants because, firstly they
cannot be destroyed through biological
degradation as in the case with most organic
pollutants and secondly metals tend to
accumulate in the environment. The discharge
of heavy metals in the environment has several
obvious impacts on aquatic ecosystems as well
as to other ecosystems. By food chain heavy
metals in the water may pile up in the body of
human as well as livestock, endangering human
health directly or indirectly. Thus, causing great
threat to living world.
Heavy metal pollution of aquatic ecosystems is
becoming a potential global problem. Trace
fresh waters from sources such as weathering
of rocks, natural phenomena such as volcanic
eruption etc. thus resulting into geo-chemical
recycling of heavy metal elements in these
ecosystems. Water is the basic need for the life
to sustain on one side, on the other side
polluted water can be lethal for the existing life.
So it becomes a matter of great concern to
purify contaminated water. There have been
various techniques for decontaminating waste
water these includes various conventional
methods. Most techniques proved to be
partially effective and too costly to be adopted
in feasible manner. A variety of biological
resources have been employed widely both in
developed and developing nations for cleanup
of the metal polluted sites. These technologies
have gained considerable momentum in the last
one decade and currently in the process of
commercialization. In present scenario a wide
range of phytotechnologies have emerged as a
feasible technology for environmental
restoration. For metal contaminants, plants
show the potential for phytoextraction (uptake
and recovery of contaminants into above-
ground biomass) filtering metals from water
onto root systems (rhizofiltration), or
stabilizing waste sites by erosion control and
evapotranspiration of large quantities of water
(phytostabilization). So remediation through
plants is an emerging technology. History of
phytoremediation dates back to the year 1930s
when scientist of Soviet Union develop the
International Journal of Innovations in Bio-Sciences
concept of geobotany. Phytoremediation is a
green technology of utilizing plants to get rid of
wide range of contaminants from any
contaminated site (such as soil, sediments,
water etc.). Many scientists found that it is
basically the root system of the plant which is
interacting with the contaminant .Thus the root
system plays an important role in
phytoremediation. Depending upon the fate of
contaminant and the site of metal accumulation
phytoremediation can be of following type:
Phytoextraction, Phytostabilisation,
Rhizofiltration,
Phytodegradation,Phytovolatization.
Rhizofiltration, is the technique of utilizing
plant roots to absorb, concentrate and
precipitate toxic metals from contaminated
ground water or polluted effluents .It is one
kind of phytoremediation rather one can say in
all kinds of phytoremediation rhizofiltration is
involved. Most researchers believe that plants
for phytoremediation should accumulate metals
only in the roots. This is due to the fact that in
all kinds of phytoremediation technique it is the
root system of plants which interact with the
contaminants or polluted site for making that
area pollution free. So one can say
rhizofiltration is the main mechanism operating
in phytoremediation. Rhizofiltration technique
approaches using plant biomass for removing
contaminants from polluted water. It was found
that it is potential technique for removal of
wide range of organic and inorganic
contaminants. Rhizofiltration reduces the
mobility of contaminant and prevents migration
to the ground water thus reduces the
bioavailability for entry into the food chain. So
in condensed form we can state this technique
of utilizing the potential plants in uptaking the
pollutants from the contaminated site. It
presents great opportunity of using suitable
plant species to clean up the environment.
Information required to plan for
rhizofiltration
Depth of contamination should be
considered to select species for
rhizofiltration.
Types of heavy metal present, and level of
contamination must be determined and
monitored.
Selection of vegetation either is aquatic,
emergent, or submergent plants. Hydraulic
detention time and sorption by the plant
roots must be considered for a successful
design
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Mechanism of Rhizofiltration
The mechanism of rhizofiltration lies in
physical and biochemical impacts of plant roots
in waste water treatment. Efficiency of
mechanism of rhizofiltration lies in the
efficiency of roots to synthesis certain
chemicals which causes heavy metals to rise in
plant body. Root exudates and changes in
rhizosphere, pH may cause metals to precipitate
onto root surfaces.
The root environment or root exudates may
produce biogeochemical conditions that result
in precipitation of contaminants onto the roots
or into the water body. As they become
saturated with the metal contaminants, roots or
whole plants are harvested for disposal.
Exudates such as simple phenolics and other
organic acids can be released from living cells
or from the entire cell contents during root
decay. These exudates can change metals
speciation (i.e. form of the metal), and the
uptake of metal ions and simultaneous release
of protons, which acidifies the medium and
promotes metal transport and bioavailability.
Basically certain genes in the plant body make
them efficient metal accumulator. Glutathione
and organic acids metabolism plays a key role
in metal tolerance in plants. Other
environmental conditions such as light,
temperature, pH also play an important role in
the uptake of heavy metals.
The process involves raising plants
hydroponically and transplanting them into
metal-polluted waters where plants absorb and
concentrate the metals in their roots and shoots.
The root system provides an enormous surface
area that absorbs and accumulates the water
and nutrients essential for growth along with
other non-essential contaminants.
The plants to be used for cleanup are raised in
greenhouses with their roots in water rather
than in soil. To acclimatize the plants, once a
large root system has been developed,
contaminated water is collected from a waste
site and brought to the plants where it is
substituted for their water source. The plants
are then planted in the contaminated area where
the roots take up the water and the
contaminants along with it. .As the roots
become saturated with contaminants, they are
harvested.
Uses of plants for rhizofiltration in lagoons and
contructed wetlands (in situ rhizofiltration)
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Figure1: Prepration and operative stages of rhizofiltration lagoons, constructed wetlands, biosorbent- based
systems.

Ex-situ rhizofiltration of heavy metals .Here polluted water is diverted into a system of array of plants
for the rhizofiltration for the purification of contaminated water. Here potential species of plants are
identified for using as rhizofiltrators. An ex situ system can be placed anywhere because the treatment
does not have to be at the original location of contamination.

Figure 2: Utilization of plants in rhizofiltration

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International Journal of Innovations in Bio-Sciences
Rhizofiltration limitations:-
The pH of the influent solution may have to
be continually adjusted to obtain optimum
metals uptake.
The chemical speciation and interaction of all
species in the influent have to be understood
for proper application.
A well-engineered system is required to
control influent concentration and flow rate.
Plants (especially terrestrial plants) may have
to be grown in a greenhouse or nursery and
then placed in the rhizofiltration system.
Periodic harvesting and plant disposal are
required.
Metal immobilization and uptake results from
laboratory and greenhouse studies might not
be achievable in the field.
Genetic engineering in rhizofiltration
Agricultural methods such as the application of
fertilizers, chelators and pH adjustors can be
utilize to further improve the potential for
phytoremediation. Genetic modification can be
used to over express the enzymes involved in the
existing plant metabolic pathways or to
introduce new pathways into plants.
Glutathione and organic acids metabolism plays
a key role in metal tolerance in plants. In plants,
it is the major low molecular mass thiol
compound. Glutathione occurs in plants mainly
as reduced GSH. Its synthesis is mediated by the
enzymes glutamylcysteine synthetase and
glutathione synthetase. Glutathione metabolism
is also connected with cysteine and sulphur
metabolism in plants. Cysteine concentration
limits gluthatione biosynthesis. Low-molecular
thiol peptides phytochelatins (PCs) often called
class III metalothioneins are synthetized in
plants from glutathione induced by heavy metal
ions These peptides are synthetized from
glutathione by means of α-glutamylcysteine
transferase enzyme which is also called
phytochelatin synthase (PCS) catalyzing transfer
reaction of (α-Glu-Cys) group from a
glutathione donor molecule to glutathione, an
acceptor molecule. PCS is a cytosolic,
constitutive enzyme and is activated by metal
ions viz., Cd2+,Pb2+, Ag1+, Bi3+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Hg2+,
and Au2+. PCs thus, synthesized chelate heavy
metals and form complexes and these complexes
are transported through cytosol in an ATP–
dependent manner through tonoplast into
vacuole. Thus the toxic metals are swept away
from cytosol. Some high-molecular weight
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Vol. 2 (4), 2012 pp. 193-199
complexes (HMW) with S-2 can also be formed
from these LMW complexes in vacuole.
Rhizofiltration significance
Rhizofiltration is applicable for the treatment of
surface water and groundwater, industrial and
residential effluents, downwashes from power
lines, storm waters, acid mine drainage,
agricultural runoffs, diluted sludges,
and radionuclide-contaminated solutions or we
can say to all kinds of contaminated water can
be treated with rhizofiltration . Plants suitable
for rhizofiltration applications can efficiently
remove toxic metals from a solution using rapid-
growth root systems. Initially most of aquatic
plants were considered for rhizofiltration but
now, Various terrestrial plant species have been
found to effectively remove toxic metals such as
Cu2+, Cd2+, Cr6+, Ni2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+ from
aqueous solutions. It was also found that low
level radioactive contaminants can successfully
be removed from liquid streams. A system to
achieve this can consist of a “feeder layer” of
soil suspended above a contaminated stream
through which plants grow, extending the bulk
of their roots into the water. The feeder layer
allows the plants to receive fertilizer without
contaminating the stream, while simultaneously
removing heavy metals from the
water. Trees have also been applied to
remediation. Trees are the lowest cost plant type.
They can grow on land of marginal quality and
have long life-spans. This results in little or no
maintenance costs. The most commonly used
are willows and poplars, which can grow 6 - 8’
per year and have a high flood tolerance. For
deep contamination, hybrid poplars with roots
extending 30 feet deep have been used. Their
roots penetrate microscopic scale pores in the
soil matrix and can cycle 100 L of water per day
per tree. These trees act almost like a pump and
treat remediation system. Some other terrestrial
plants include sunflower species and brassica
species as efficient rhizofiltrators.
So we can say that Rhizofiltration is of great
importance. It is a cost effective technology,
with low labour cost, low or no operational or
maintenance cost .It is good alternative to
traditional practices of contaminated waste water
treatment. It produces no secondary waste .So in
nutshell we can say it is a permanent solution to
get rid of contaminant from the environment. By
using biotechnologies we can enhance the metal
uptake potential of the plants and can utilize
them as better metal accumulators.
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Future research
Modification or over expression of the enzymes
that are involved in the synthesis of GSH and
PCs might be a good approach to enhance heavy
metal tolerance and accumulation in plants.
In the process of attempting to improve
rhizofiltration, it was discovered that young
plant seedlings grown in aerated water
(aquacultured) are often more effective than
roots in removing heavy metals from water .The
technology of using plant seedlings to remove
toxic metals from water was termed
blastofiltration (blasto is ‘seedling’ in Greek).
Blastofiltration may represent the second
generation of plant-based water treatment
technology. It takes advantage of the dramatic
increase in surface to volume ratio that occurs
after germination and the fact that some
germinating seedlings also ab/adsorb large
quantities of toxic metal ions. This property
makes seedlings uniquely suitable for water
remediation. Seedling cultures used for
blastofiltration can be produced in light or in
darkness, and seeds, water and air are the only
components required.
Heavy metal hyperaccumulators have received
increased attention in recent years, due to the
potential of using these plants for
phytoremediation of metal contaminated sites.
However, there are some limitations for this
technology to become efficient and cost-
effective on a commercial scale, as most of the
metal hyperaccumulating plants identified have
small biomass, and are not very adaptable to
harsh environment. These limitations need to be
overcome by achieving a good understanding of
the mechanisms of metal hyperaccumulation in
plants. In the past years, most researches
focusing on the physiological mechanisms of
hyperaccumulation have made great progress;
however, the understanding of a range of
molecular/cellular mechanisms will undoubtedly
change our concept of metal acquisition and
homeostasis in higher plants. With the
completion of the Arabidopsis genome project,
eventually followed by genome sequences for
other plants, the full range of genes that are
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Vol. 2 (4), 2012 pp. 193-199
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