Seven universities are receiving grants totaling nearly $2.22 million to study the plant-based phytoremediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals or organic chemicals. The joint initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeks to foster innovative scientific solutions to the worldwide problem of contaminated soil.

Phytoremediation uses plants to degrade, remove or stabilize toxic compounds from contaminated soil and water. The serious problem of soil contaminated with heavy metals or organic chemicals affects human health, ecosystem functions and agriculture. Experts estimate the cost of soil cleanup in the United States in the billions of dollars. Researchers believe that phytoremediation could provide an extremely cost-effective and much less disruptive cleanup process when compared to traditional cleanup techniques, such as transporting massive amounts of contaminated soil to hazardous waste landfills.

NSF is funding three multidisciplinary research projects that will investigate the genetic components of phytoremediation of heavy metals in soils. One project will determine the suite of genes responsible for heavy-metal hyperaccumulation in Thlaspi caerulescens. A second will perform a search of the genomes of brassicaceous plants for genes involved in metal hyper accumulation. A third will study the mechanisms of arsenic uptake, trans- location, distribution and detoxification by the Brake fern, a common fern in the southeastern U.S. and California. The research awards come from NSF’s Integrative Plant Biology and Environmental Engineering/Environmental Technology Programs.

EPA research projects are diverse and designed to explain the mechanisms for phytoremediation of organic chemicals including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated bi-phenyls, and chlorinated pesticides. Knowledge will be unearthed to better understand three scientific problems: the microbial ecology of chemical-degrading bacteria that live in the root systems of monoterpene-producing plants; the role of chemicals produced by roots that aid in making the organic chemicals available for uptake and metabolism by plants; and the role of plant-transported oxygen for degradation of organic contaminants in waterlogged, low-oxygen salt marsh sediments or soils. The grants for these studies were awarded through EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program.

The multi-agency funding for this initiative - made through the Joint Program on Phytoremediation - also includes the Office of Naval Research and the DOD/DOE/EPA Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.

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