Green manure plants for remediation of soils polluted by metals and metalloids: Ecotoxicity and human bioavailability assessment

International audience; Borage, white mustard and phacelia, green manure plants currently used in agriculture to improve soilproperties were cultivated for 10 wk on various polluted soils with metal(loid) concentrations representativeof urban brownfields or polluted kitchen gardens. Metal(loid) bioavailability and ecotoxicity weremeasured in relation to soil characteristics before and after treatment. All the plants efficiently grow onthe various polluted soils. But borage and mustard only are able to modify the soil characteristics andmetal(loid) impact: soil respiration increased while ecotoxicity, bioaccessible lead and total metal(loid)quantities in soils can be decreased respectively by phytostabilization and phytoextraction mechanisms.These two plants could therefore be used for urban polluted soil refunctionalization. However, plant efficiencyto improve soil quality strongly depends on soil characteristics.