Phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soils in marginalised regions: opportunities, limitations and sustainable development

Abstract: Soil pollution is one of the problems that obstruct sustainable development in the affected regions, posing a threat to the local environment, ecosystems and human wellbeing. Phytoremediation is one of the techniques used to clean polluted soils. It relies on the ability of some plants to absorb or stabilize certain substances from soil, including organic and inorganic pollutants. Amaranth was chosen as a potential candidate for the proposed phytoremediation project in Chinandega region, Nicaragua, an area that was heavily used for cotton production in the last century, and is now characterised as having high levels of soil pollution, Cd being one of the most common one. The aspects such as opportunities and limitations for the designing of such a project, as well as its contribution to the sustainable development of the region were examined in this thesis. To further support the investigation, the laboratory experiment was performed to study the uptake rate of Cd by amaranth in a greenhouse conditions. The results of the study show that the main opportunities for the design of this project would be the possibility of combining the cleaning of soil with co-benefits such as producing food and energy, as well as additional removal of organic pollutants. The main limitations would be the lack of initial data about the pollution, and possible economic losses due to inability of using amaranth for food. The implementation of this project in real life would mean a support of sustainable development of the Chinandega region on many levels, including social, environmental and economic benefits. The results of the laboratory pot experiment are yet to be included in the study, as the experiment still continues.