Phytoremediation of lead-contaminated soils in Burlington's Old North End neighborhood

Conference Year

January 2020

Abstract

Plant Biology Professor Laura Hill and undergraduate Mariah Cronin are studying the efficacy of phytoremediation, the use of plants to extract toxic heavy metals, to cleanup soils contaminated with trace metals such as lead in Burlington's Old North End (ONE) neighborhood. They are using two different plants, hemp (Cannabis sativa) and sunflowers (Helianthus annus), grown either alone or in co-culture. We expect our phytoremediation results to be a cost-effective and efficacious strategy that is transferable to other contaminated ONE neighbourhood residential and commercial property lots.

Primary Faculty Mentor Name

Laura Hill

Faculty/Staff Collaborators

Laura Hill (Collaborating Mentor)

Status

Undergraduate

Student College

College of Arts and Sciences

Program/Major

Environmental Studies

Primary Research Category

Biological Sciences

Abstract only.

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Phytoremediation of lead-contaminated soils in Burlington's Old North End neighborhood

Plant Biology Professor Laura Hill and undergraduate Mariah Cronin are studying the efficacy of phytoremediation, the use of plants to extract toxic heavy metals, to cleanup soils contaminated with trace metals such as lead in Burlington's Old North End (ONE) neighborhood. They are using two different plants, hemp (Cannabis sativa) and sunflowers (Helianthus annus), grown either alone or in co-culture. We expect our phytoremediation results to be a cost-effective and efficacious strategy that is transferable to other contaminated ONE neighbourhood residential and commercial property lots.