Chapter 2 Protocols for Applying Phytotechnologies in Metal-Contaminated Soils

Phytoremediation is becoming well-known word in both scientific literature and more popular publications. The word itself is derived from the Greek word phytos (plant) and the Latin word remedium (roughly translated as restoration of balance/ equilibrium). This makes phytoremediation a very broadly applied expression: in fact, it can be defined as any use of plants to restore the quality of soil, biota, water, and air (McCutcheon and Schnoor 2003; McCutcheon and Jørgensen 2008). Phytoremediation is considered the only solution which approaches the problem from an eco-sustainable point of view: environmentally friendly and relatively cheap. The United Nations Environment Program (2003) promotes its application as sustainable technology to remediate environmental pollution. Moreover, the European Union regulators proposed within the Directive 2008/1/EC a guideline to select the most suitable technique according to criteria such as environmental friendliness, preexisting scientific knowledge, or required time. Such guidelines leave stakeholders to choose the best remediation technology for their site, considering the economic, environmental, and social variables (Conesa et al. 2012). In this chapter the use of the phenomenon phytoremediation is narrowed down to heavy metals as pollutants and soils as the environmental compartment, focusing on phytoextraction (Raskin 1995; Blaylock et al. 1997) and phytostabilization (Berti and Cunningham 2000; Bolan et al. 2011). Phytoextraction aims to remove the heavy metal using specific plants, often in combination with specific soil additives,