Interviews with experts – prof. univ. dr. Radu Sumalan

Fito-remedy can be a viable and cheap alternative for remediation of polluted soils!

Interview with prof. univ. dr. Radu Șumălan, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara

• Combating soil pollution is a serious problem, which is dealt with by specialists from different fields, in many countries of the world. Do we already have “success stories” on the remediation of soils polluted with heavy metals?
• I’d start from quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” Clean and healthy soils are indispensable for life in general, for food production, for maintaining population health and for perpetuating biodiversity. They reduce our vulnerability to climate changes, drought and floods. Although the general perception is that soil is an abundant resource, it should be kept in mind that this resource is not renewable (1 cm of soil is formed in about 100 years, under conditions conducive to the temperate climate). It is estimated that there are more than 3 million potential sites with contaminated soils in Europe (Source: Joint Research Centre ‟ State of the Soil in Europe”. Most often, polluted soils are perceived as a burden by policymakers and as a threat by residents of the respective area. Local authorities feel that remedial efforts are often difficult, both in terms of cost, but especially in terms of the complexity of the measures to be taken. However, there are many success stories that clearly demonstrate that this challenge can be addressed with determination, in cooperation with partners and local authorities to provide new development opportunities. Fixing contaminated places and soils clearly offers significant potential for green growth with the creation of new jobs and a perceivable improvement in quality of life.
• Phyto-remediation brings, as a solution, a concept that is well received by those concerned with ecology: the healing of nature through the power of nature. But doesn’t this approach lead to a longer time for “healing” soils?
• Heavy metal pollution is one of the most important environmental problems of recent years. Heavy metal contamination of soils is not only a matter of pollution, but it also has dangerous effects on wildlife and human life. Solving these pollution problems by using traditional, traditional, physico-chemical methods is too costly for many countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, so phyto-remediation can be a viable and relatively cheap alternative. The main methods on which phyto-remediation is based are: phyto-extraction, phyto-degradation, phyto-stabilization, phyto-volatization, rhizo-degradation, rhizo-filtration, phyto-hydraulic control, vegetative coating systems, buffer bands and river corridors.
• Which plants have you chosen to test for remediation of polluted soils due to mining activities in the area covered by the NETMIN project?
• Bioremediation of polluted soils can generally be carried out with a wide range of plant species belonging mainly to the families Brassicaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Scrophulariaceae. We wanted to use a new range of species, which are less tested for this purpose, namely Silphium perfoliatum, from Asteraceae family and Hordeum vulgare from the Graminee family. They are species with high ecological plasticity, which easily adapt to a variety of soil and climate conditions, cultivated or with high cultivation potential in the Romanian-Serbian cross-border area.
• The cultivation of soils in mining or former mining areas requires, from the above presented aspects, more complex issues than strictly choosing the type of phyto-remedial plants. What are the most important implications for decision-makers in dealing with the plants that grow on such soils?
• It is obvious that the cultivated plant species must exhibit some essential features, namely:
  • good capacity for extracting heavy metals from the soil,
  • accumulation of extracted metals in the aerial parts of plants,
  • appropriateness of harvested biomass for renewable energy production and not as sources of human or animal food,
  • concentration of heavy metals in low-volume, manageable by-products (ash, digestate, etc.)

Interviewer: Mariana Cernicova-Bucă