phytoremediation

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a bioremediation strategy that uses living plants and their associated root-zone microorganisms to remove, degrade, immobilise, or contain pollutants in contaminated soil, water, or sediments; mechanisms include phytoextraction (plants absorb and concentrate metals in above-ground tissue for harvest), phytodegradation (plant enzymes break down organic contaminants), rhizofiltration (roots absorb contaminants from water), and phytostabilisation (plants immobilise contaminants in soil); sunflowers were used to extract cesium and strontium from water at Chernobyl, and poplar trees are widely used in remediation of chlorinated solvent plumes