Multiple sources report that hemp is being successfully used to remove cancer causing toxins from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
"PHYTOTECH (see webpage: www.phytotech.com/index.html ) specializes in phytoremediation, the general term for using phyto (plants) to remediate (clean up) polluted sites. Phytoremediation can be used to remove radioactive elements from soil and water at former weapons producing facilaties. It can also be used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and toxins leaching from landfills.
Plants break down or degrade organic pollutants and stabilize metal contaminants by acting as filters or traps. PHYTOTECH is conducting feild trials to improve the phytoextraction of lead, uranium, cesium-137, and strontium-90 from soils and also from water.
Founded in 1931, the Institute of Bast Crops is now the leading research institution in the Ukraine working on seed-breeding, seed-growing, cultivating, harvesting and processing hemp and flax.
The Bast Institute has a genetic bank including 400 varieties of hemp from various regions of the world.
"Hemp is proving to be one of the best phyto-remediative plants we have been able to find," said Slavik Dushenkov, a research scienst with PHYTOTECH. Test results have been promising and CGP,
PHYOTECH and the Bast Institute plan full scale trials in the Chernobyl region in the spring of 1999." (from http://www.hemp.net/news/9901/06/hemp_eats_chernobyl_waste.html)
Here are some articles on this subject:
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_10.html
http://abundanthope.net/pages/Environment_Science_69/Hemp-helps-Chernobyl.shtml
http://current.com/green/89100568_hemp-used-to-remove-chernobyl-contaminants.htm
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