WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION:THE EFFICIENCY AND VIABILITY OF PHYTOREMEDIATION

摘要

Phytoremediation is a long-term, complex biological process. There is not one single measure of the efficiency of a process such as phytoremediation and therefore many aspects must be considered separately, and in conjunction, to reach a conclusion. Efficiency is an arbitrary term unless related to an end point. If the end point is use of the land for gardens then the clean-up must be more complete than if a car park was to be constnicted on the site. Unless the end use is specified then the efficiency of the process cannot be calculated. The main measurements of efficiency, for example, may be the rate of degradation of organics, or the stabilisation, extraction, or volatilisation of metals, the duration of the remediation process or the cost of the process. In the case of contamination with organic chemicals the degradation products and metabolites must be considered as they may be more toxic than the original chemical. There was a consensus that defined and internationally adopted guidelines for parameters such as monitoring and analytical tools and methods etc. are needed. These are necessary for international comparability of research and remediation and also efficiency measures. Accepted and tested models would also be needed both for the terrestrial and aquatic environments.