This book “Phytoremediation: Sustainable Solutions for Environmental Pollution” presents a promising avenue for the degradation and detoxification of environmental contaminants from soil, water and air using plants. Plants can extract, degrade or immobilize contaminants like metals, pesticides, solvents, crude oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by acting as filters or traps. On the basis of the nature of the contaminant’s plants employ different techniques of phytoremediation namely phytoextraction, phytostabilization, phytovolatilization, phytodegradation, rhizofiltration, rhizodegradation and phytodesalination. This book is an attempt to offer an extensive and detailed overview about the fundamentals, opportunities, challenges, benefits and limitations of phytoremediation.

The book highlights technologies for phytoremediation of pesticides and xenobiotic compounds like heavy metals, antibiotics, dyes, plastics, dioxin, hydrocarbons, contaminated water from tannery, acid mine drainage etc. by using various plants. This book presents strategies for mitigation of urban area air pollutants through macrophytes and tree species, recent strategies and techniques to reduce toxicity of agricultural soil, phytoremediation solutions for emerging contaminants such as microplastics and antibiotics into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and other related topics. We believe that this book will be beneficial for the students and researchers in the domains of botany, agriculture, biotechnology, and environmental sciences, additionally soil scientists, policymakers, non-governmental organizations working in area of environmental management.

Dr. Namita Ashish Singh is currently working as Assistant Professor at Department of Microbiology, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan. She completed her Masters in Microbiology from Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. She earned her doctoral study in Biotechnology from Punjabi University Patiala, Punjab. She has more than fourteen years of research and teaching experience. Dr. Singh’s current research focuses on Microbial diversity, Mycotoxin contamination, Antimicrobial Resistance, Food quality & safety. Dr. Singh has supervised 1 Ph.D. and 16 post-graduation students while 4 Ph.D. are ongoing. She is having two Indian patents on Aflatoxin M1 and Enteroccoci in milk to her credit. She has published more than 26 research/review articles in International and National reputed journals along with 1 book and 19 book chapters. She has handled two research projects sanctioned by UGC and RUSA, MHRD, Delhi.  She has many prestigious awards to her credit like Best Paper Award by Indian Dairy Association (IDA) along with 20000 Cash Prize, Dr. C.M. Singh Memorial NABS-Best Research Paper Award by NABS, Chennai, India, Certificate of appreciation by DST Rajasthan, Best Inventor award, by Microbiologists Society India etc.

Dr. Girima Nagda is currently working as Assistant Professor at the Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University (MLSU), Udaipur Rajasthan. She completed her M.Sc. in Zoology with specialization in Cell and Molecular Biology in the year 2004 and received Gold Medal for standing first in Mohanlal Sukhadia University. She cleared her CSIR-NET exam in the year 2004. She has been awarded Ph.D. degree by Mohanlal Sukhadia University in the year 2012. She has 16 years of UG and PG teaching experience. Her research areas include Nanotechnology, Toxicology, Biochemistry, Developmental Biology etc. She is handling one RUSA MHRD project on “Pesticide Residue Analysis in Fruits and Vegetables” as a Co-PI. She has published about 15 research/review articles in reputed international and national journals, 14 chapters in edited books and 4 books. She has to her credit awards like Women in Science Award 2023, Prof. R S Paroda Best Presentation Award 2019 by Rajasthan Science Congress, Appreciation Award on Women’s Day 2021, ONGC Young Scientist Award 2017 by ONGC at international conference for overall academic excellence.

Dr. Tripta Jain is currently working as Assistant Professor at Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur.  She got her Ph.D. degree from Mohanlal Sukhadia University and her field of specialization is Plant Pathology and Microbiology. She also holds a Diploma Certificate in Pharmacy. She is actively involved in conducting research since last 15 years. Her research is focused on plant disease management, plant microbe interaction, identification and characterization of plant secondary metabolites and microbial metabolites and isolation of novel PGPR strains especially for their biocontrol potential. She has been associated with the teaching profession for the past 18 years. She has successfully completed one research project funded by DST, New Delhi and currently running two research projects in her credit funded by RUSA. She published more than 30 research/review papers and 15 book chapters in her areas of proficiency and interest. Dr. Jain Co-supervised 4 Ph.D. and more than 45 short term research projects/minor research project in the field of botany and microbiology. She is recipient of Women scientist (WOS-B) fellowship from DST, New Delhi in the year 2009. She also receives Smt. Guman Verma Memorial Best Women Scientist Award best research paper presentation and Women’s Day Appreciation Award in 2021.

Chapter 1. Phytoremediation Mechanisms for Environmental Cleanup: A Brief Overview  Girima Nagda, Payal Patel, Niharika Upadhyay, Kanupriya Dadheech, Jyoti Yadav and Tripta Jain
 

Chapter 2.Revitalizing farmland: bioremediation approaches for contaminated agricultural soils Anita Gajraj, Swati Tyagi and Jai Bahadur Singh Kachhawa
 

Chapter 3.Plant Biotechnology for Afforestation, bioremediation and Sustainable Development Dhaval Nirmal and Sagar Teraiya
 

Chapter 4.Potential and neglected plants for phytoremediation of dyes Anuya Verma, N. Gaur and Rohini Trivedi
 

Chapter 5.Wastewater Treatment using Moringa oelifera Lam.: A sustainable Ecofriendly Approach Lokeshwar Bhatt, Nikita Gautam, Priyanka Faroda, Khushbu Jangir, Shruti Jangir, Gauri Mali, Amit Kumar Gupta 
 

Chapter 6.Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment: A Study on Tannery Effluent Pooja Kumari and Bhanu Raj Meena
 

Chapter 7.Phytoremediation using Aquatic Plants for Ecological Restoration of Polluted Water Bodies Sunita Goyal and Jaya Mathur
 

Chapter 8.An Insight into Phytoremediation and Bioremediation Techniques for Wastewater and Polluted Water Treatment Pooja Suhalka, Chirmaie Nagda, Devendra Singh Rathore and Girima Nagda
 

Chapter 9.Harnessing Phytoremediation for eco strategic reclamation of acid mine drainage Priya Soni, Pushpa Gehlot, Jyoti Yadav, Akshat Dwivedi, Girima Nagda and Tripta Jain
 

Chapter 10.Plant-Based Strategies for Reducing Pesticide Contamination Shikha Verma and Pankti Patel 
 

Chapter 11.Phytoremediation and Microbial Synergy for Xenobiotic Detoxification Deepti Suhalka, Uttam Prakash Sharma
 

Chapter 12.Phytoremediation Strategies for Mitigating Air and Organic Pollutants Abhishek Rajpurohit and Seema Yadav
 

Chapter 13.Sustainable Management of Urban Area Pollution through Phytoremediation: Role of Macrophaytes and Trees in Gandhinagar, Gujarat State Aanal Maitreya, Anusha Maitreya, Bharat Maitreya
 

Chapter 14.Agricultural Soil Toxicity: Recent Advances in Bioremediation Strategies and Techniques  Ashaben Parmanand Joshi, Shaktika Choudhary, Uttam Prakash Sharma
 

Chapter 15.Phytoremediation of Microplastic and Antibiotics: A Green Approach for Emerging Contaminants Priya Soni, Pushpa Gehlot, Jyoti Yadav and Tripta Jain