This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will explore the use of terrestrial plants for the removal of chelated heavy metals and radionuclides from contaminated water streams. Heavy metal pollution of water is a major environmental problem facing the modern world. Removing chelated heavy metals and radionuclides in water is one of the most recalcitrant problems in water treatment, since conventional methods are not very effective against metals bound to organic compounds. The use of plant roots to remove toxic heavy metals from water (rhizofiltration) is an emerging environmental clean-up approach. This technology utilizes live roots of hydroponically grown terrestrial plants e.g. Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and various grasses to effectively remove radionuclides and such heavy metals as Cu+2, Cd+2, Cr+6, Ni+2, Pb+2 and Zn+2 from aqueous solutions. While the treatment of soluble metal ions in water has been demonstrated, the use of rhizofiltration for the removal of chelated heavy metals and radionuclides has never been attempted. This project will evaluate the feasibility of using hydroponically cultivated plant roots to extract chelated heavy metals and radionuclides from water by exposing the roots to solutions of chelated metals and measuring metal accumulation in the roots, the rate of metal removal from solution and the residual metal concentrations after treatment. The expansion of this application to the treatment of metal contaminated soils will also be evaluated. Scale-up and commercialization efforts will immediately follow a demonstration of feasibility for rhizofiltration of chelated heavy metals in water. This company was founded solely to commercialize plant-based remediation technology, and has secured sufficient financial resources to develop the most promising applications. A successful demonstration of this technology will lead to improved and lower cost methods for conserving water resources, restoring water quality and providing a significant new use for existing crop plants
