Can Sunflowers Remove Radiation From The Ground?

Many companies tasked with removing nuclear waste from spoil rely heavily on excavation, which is financially and environmentally costly. However, scientists are studying the wonder plant, sunflowers, which can either absorb toxic metals and radiation from the soil or prevent most of them from entering its system. After the Hiroshima, Fukushima, and Chernobyl nuclear disasters, fields of sunflowers were planted across the affected areas to clean up radioactive materials. Sunflowers are effective at absorbing certain types of radiation, particularly radionuclides such as cesium-137 and strontium-90, which can be found in contaminated soil. They can extract these elements from the soil and store them in their tissues, particularly stems and leaves.

Sunflowers can pull radioactive contaminants out of the soil, and researchers cleaning up the Fukushima site in Japan are putting the flowers to the test. In a process known as phytoremediation, plants like sunflowers are used to draw contaminants out of the soil and into their stalks so they can be safely and cost-effectively removed. Certain radioactive isotopes are similar to the nutrients sunflowers normally need, so as they grow, they take up radiation out of the soil.

New research now suggests that sunflowers might be as good for the environment as they are pretty to look at. Sunflowers were most notably used after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to remove cesium and strontium (radioactive elements) from the soil. Sunflowers are particularly adept at extracting radioactive metals, like cesium-137 and strontium-90 found at Chernobyl, and after they’ve done their work, the sunflowers are disposed of as radioactive waste. The estimated cost for the project is $2 to $6 per thousand gallons of water.