Bioremediation of soils contaminated with Ni and Cd: An overview

Abstract

Environmental pollution due to heavy metals (HM) is a concern globally since this may lead to geoaccumulation, bioaccumulation, and biomagnifications in ecosystems as they can penetrate the food sequence via anthropogenic actions such as continuous addition of waste water, sewage sludge application, and purification of metals. These metals have been widely studied and their effects on soil-plant-animal continuum regularly reviewed with varied perspective. In the present review, we sum up contemporary knowledge about bioremediation of heavy metals in particular nickel (Ni) and cadmium (Cd) which are potential soil and water pollutants. Among the different bioremediation options available phytoremediation emerges as a sustainable and inexpensive technology. On the other hand, as phytoremediation is a dawdling process, enhancement of efficiency and for augmented stabilization or removal of HMs from soils arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi afford a smart system to press forward plant-based environmental clean-up. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017. All rights reserved.