Phytoremediation: the Use of Vegetation in Recovery Areas Degraded by Heavy Metals

Economic development has intensified activities in agriculture and industry, leading to worrying levels of pollution, some of which are difficult or impossible to reverse. Among the sources of environmental pollution are heavy metals, which are minerals that are difficult to break down. These metals accumulate in organisms and are passed from one organism to another through the food chain. The accumulation of heavy metals in the soil can be remedied by using phytoextractor plants, i.e., plants that can extract the metal from the soil and, in some cases, degrade it through metabolism. Candeia (Eremanthus incanus (Less) Less) is a species of rocky savannah, which is normally found in sandy, nutrient-poor soils. Its roots are long, thin and abundant, and the plant grows and develops rapidly in the early stages. This justifies the use of Candeia as a phytoremediation plant and for planting for environmental restoration purposes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the initial growth of Candeia seedlings in copper-contaminated soil.