Applied research in risk assessment

Today, given its characteristics, the RHIZOtest can be transferred from the academic world to its application in the field of assessing risks to humans and ecosystems exposed to contaminated soils.

The RHIZOtest has notably been used to assess the risk of copper phytotoxicity in soils with a previous grapevine crop in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

The RHIZOtest has proved to be an efficient tool for characterizing the ability of a range of cultivated plant species to phytoaccumulate trace elements that are potentially toxic for humans, such as arsenic, cadmium and lead.

Standardization is an essential stage for the RHIZOtest to become an acknowledged biological method used in risk assessment procedures at contaminated sites. An ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standardization procedure has been under way since 2009.