VOL. 9, NO. 3, MARCH 2014 ISSN 1990-6145 ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science © 2006-2014 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com 101 PHYTOREMEDIATORY POTENTIAL OF GUAVA AND ASHOK TREE AT THREE DIFFERENT SITES OF BAREILLY DISTRICT-A CASE STUDY Nooris Naqvi 1 , Taqi Ahmed Khan 2 , Mohd Mazid 3 , Fiza Khan 4 , Saima Quddusi 5 , Rajib Roychowdhury 6 and D.K. Saxena 7 1 Department of Environmental Science, Bareilly College, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Applied Biotechnology Department, Sur College of Applied Sciences, Sur, Oman 3 Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 4 Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 5 Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 6 Department of Biotechnology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India 7 Department of Botany, Bareilly College, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. India E-Mail: noorisnaqvibly@gmail.com ABSTRACT Technologies can be generally classified as in situ or ex situ. Treatment of the contaminated material at the site called in situ, while ex situ involves the removal of the contaminated materials to be elsewhere. Some examples of bioremediation related technologies are rhizofiltration, phytoremediation, bioleaching, bioreactor, composting, land farming, bioventing and bio-stimulation. Phytoremediation involves the removal pollutants from the environment with the help of plants. The evolution of physiological and molecular mechanism of phytoremediation developed biological strategies to improve the performance of both phyto-stabilization and heavy metal phyto-extraction. Over the past 20 years, this technology has become popular and has been employed at sites with soils contaminated with lead, copper, uranium, and arsenic. Keywords: phytoremediation, copper, lead, environment, quality and industries. INTRODUCTION The quality of life on earth is linked inextricably to the overall quality of the environment. Air, water and land are precious natural resources on which the sustainability of agriculture and the civilization of mankind rely. Air is one of the most important constituents of the human environment. The prevention of air quality has become one of the top environmental priorities in the world. Air quality is generally described as a combination of physical and chemical characteristics that make air as a healthful resource for a living one which enable man to continue his domestic, social, industrial and recreational activities. With the increasing industrialization and globalization, both physical and chemical characteristics are changing (Adriano, 2001). Natural forces are responsible for physical change while chemical changes are caused mainly by human activities. The air quality is influenced whenever energy consumption takes place, either under human direction or by natural forces. Automobiles, domestic waste, indiscriminate use of insecticides and pesticides, electric power generation, space heating, manufacturing practices, chemical reaction in radioactive nuclides and burning of fossil fuels are by far the greatest offenders, which are altering air quality. Air pollution is a significant risk factor for multiple health conditions (Adriano et al., 2005). The human health affected by poor air quality are far reaching, but principally affect the vegetation, human beings, animals and materials, have been recognized as a respiratory system. Effects of air pollution on agriculture, forestry are serious economic and environmental problem. Amongst air pollutants, an increasing concern with the potential effects of metallic contaminants on human health and on environment, the research on fundamental, applied and health aspects of metals is increasing (Adeniyi, 1996). Moreover, metals are probably the oldest known toxins to living system and their increasing level in the ecosystem and in biological tissues in recent past, as revealed by environmental monitoring and epidemiological surveys, has made metal exposure a global concern. The use of metal-accumulating plants to clean soil and water contaminated with toxic metals are the most rapidly developing component of this environmental friendly and cost-effective technology. The metals such as Pb, Cu and Cd are non-essential for plants (Gaur and Adholeya, 2004). The metal contamination of environment reflects both natural sources and contribution from industrial activity including the hazardous waste. The assessment of the impact of metal exposure on human health is a challenging task for toxicologist. In addition, heavy metals are ubiquitous environmental contaminants in industrialized societies. Metal contamination levels in plants are increasing in serious proportions in most cities of India. In fact, metal pollution is a product of urbanization, industrialization, and mechanization where norms are not strictly followed. The reason for this increase in metals in vegetables could be due to either by air borne precipitation or from water bodies or could be form both. Furthermore, both anthropogenic materials and vehicle exhaust particles, (lubricating oil residues, tire wear particles, SPM and brake linings wear particles) that can be pulverized by the passing traffic are direct contributors to dust on the road (Ackerman, 2009). Due to accelerated industrialization and urbanization, nearly half of the population in the world now lives in urban