Ashtabula, former uranium processing facility

PhytoremediationField pilot

Helianthus annuus

Dushenkov and colleagues selected in the laboratory sunflowers whose roots concentrate uranium (bioaccumulation coefficients up to 30,000) and then tested a pilot rhizofiltration system on site, in which contaminated water flows through the roots.

Outcome The pilot system brought uranium below 20 µg/L before discharge. Nearly all the uranium stayed in the roots. It is a trial on water, not on soil.

• Uranium

• Dushenkov et al., Removal of uranium from water using terrestrial plants, Environmental Science & Technology, 1997