Hemp can remove harmful chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive toxins from the soil.
Not only does hemp rehabilitate and enrich the soil with nitrogen and oxygen, restore pH levels and combat erosion, industrial hemp can also naturally clean and detoxify soils that are contaminated with toxic substances and pollutants. Called 'phytoremediation', industrial hemp has a very high capability to absorb heavy metals like lead, nickel, cadmium, zinc and chromium.
Labelled a "mop-crop", industrial hemp can be used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, and toxins leaching from landfills. Hemp and it's phytoremediative properties can also be used to remove radioactive elements from the soil, having demonstrated the ability to decontaminate toxic soils in Chernobyl in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster.
How? The fast-growing, deep roots (around 8 feet below) of the plant grow deep into the contaminated soil, and through their natural growth process, absorb, store or, in some cases, transform toxins into a harmless substance.
When heavy metals contaminate the environment, they remain a potential threat to humans and animals for many years to follow. With soil contamination increasing at a concerning rate, due to human activities such as releasing of industrial effluents/wastewater, landfills and waste sludge, hemp and phytoremediation technology is an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective tool in the fight to repair human-inflicted damage to our soils and ecosystems.