Research Progress on the Phytoextraction of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils in China

From the late of 1990s, researches on phytoextraction for heavy metal(and metalloid element such as arsenic) contaminated soils were begun in China, and a number of plant species or varieties with high research value and application prospect that can accumulate/hyperaccumulate copper, arsenic, cadmium, manganese or other heavy metals were reported. Many researches have been conducted on physiological mechanisms of heavy metal tolerance and hyperaccumulation, rhizospheric processes and mechanisms of phytoextraction, enhancing measures of phytoextraction efficiency, post-harvest processing and resourceful use of metals, and so on. Moreover, a number of applied researches and demonstration were carried out, and there were some successful phytoremediation engineering application cases. These also enable the remediation technology of heavy metal contaminated soil, especially phytoextraction technology, to produce a strong influence in the world. In this paper, recent research progress on phytoextraction of heavy metal contaminated soils in China were reviewed, and future trends were also discussed.