Phytomanagement is an ecological remediation technique that uses plants to clean up soil and water contaminated by toxic substances.
Phytomanagement involves planting plants capable of absorbing and storing contaminants from soil or water. These plants are called "hyperaccumulators" and can absorb high levels of heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic chemicals.
Plants absorb contaminants from the soil or water through their roots and store them in the aerial parts of the plant, such as the leaves and stems. The plant parts containing the contaminants are then harvested and disposed of appropriately.
Phytomanagement can be used to treat contaminated sites in urban and industrial areas, as well as in rural areas. The advantages of this method are that it is inexpensive and environmentally friendly, and can be used to treat contaminated soil and water on-site, without the need to transport it to another area for treatment.
For on-site remediation, other treatment methods can be used, such as anaerobic biostimulation, bioventing, composting, containment, thermal desorption and excavation, vacuum extraction, incineration, landfarming, chemical washing, chemical oxidation, pyrolysis, chemical reduction, stabilization, stripping, biological treatment or granulometric sorting.