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RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED TO STUDY ABILITY OF PLANTS TO TREAT POLLUTION; JOINT EFFORT WITH NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Release Date: 03/11/2002
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EPA and the National Science Foundation are awarding nearly $2.22 million in grants to seven universities to study the effect by plants to soils contaminated by heavy metals or organic chemicals. This joint effort is designed to foster innovative scientific solutions to the worldwide problem of soils contaminated with heavy metals and organic chemicals, which can effect human health, ecosystem function and agriculture. The research will study “phytoremediation,” or the use of plants to degrade, remove or stabilize toxic compounds from contaminated soil and water in ways that are less costly and less disruptive than traditional cleanup techniques.

Three grants were awarded through EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, and are designed to clarify the mechanism of phytoremediation of organic contaminants. The National Science Foundation will sponsor three multidisciplinary research projects to investigate the genetic components of phytoremediation of heavy metals in soils. These grants were awarded through NSF’s Integrative Plant Biology Program and the Environmental Engineering/Environmental Technology Program. Funding for this joint initiative was made available through the Joint Program on Phytoremediation, a federal research effort involving EPA, the National Science Foundation and the Departments of Defense and Energy.

The three EPA grants will go to the University of California, University of Connecticut and Washington State University. The University of California (at Riverside) will evaluate plant species that produce a specific group of chemicals for use in phytoremediation, and the ecology of chemical-degrading bacteria that live in the root systems of these plants. The University of Connecticut will investigate the role of plant roots in the phytoremediation of persistent organic pollutants in soil. This research will determine whether chemicals produced by roots have the potential to increase the bioavailability of certain contaminants for plant uptake and metabolism. Washington State University will study spartina cordgrasses for their potential use as a phytoremediation tool in marine and estuarine sediments. The research will determine whether the ability of these plants to transport oxygen from the atmosphere to their below-ground root systems has the potential to enhance microbial degradation of organic pollutants, which can be limited by oxygen availability in anoxic, waterlogged soils. More information on these grants is available at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/grants/phyto01.html.

The three grants being funded by the National Science Foundation will go to Cornell University, Purdue University and a joint grant to Northwestern University and the University of Florida. Cornell University will study the molecular basis for heavy metal accumulation and tolerance in a ‘hyperaccumulating” plant species. Purdue University will perform a study to attempt to identify genome-wide metal hyperaccumulation genes. The research will focus on species from the Brassicaceae family. Finally, Northwestern University and the University of Florida will perform research to clarify the mechanisms of arsenic uptake, translocation, distribution and detoxification by Brake ferns. More information on these grants is available from Andrea Dietrich at 703-292-7746, or at: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/ibn/ibndevelop.htm.

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