this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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It stays in their bodies then goes back to the environment when they die. From my understanding they're less useful for removing heavy metals and like op states they're more useful as bio indicators. Basically collect a bunch and test how much heavy metal they have to determine general contamination in the area. They would probably be really difficult to remove at quantities that actually decontaminate soil or water
The real pros for heavy metal removal are oysters. Easy to farm, they collect heavy metals, carbon, and other stuff in their shells, the shells can be disposed of at scale, and they're arguably vegan
Try planting oysters in the soil though, lmao. You are right all around; no one is using isopods to remediate. You can use some plants, like sunflower, and I believe hemp, but you have to remove them from the system - it isn't alchemy.
Some plants like mustard and alpine pennycress are actually hyperaccumulators that can extract way more heavy metals per acre than sunflowers, but yeah you still gotta harvest and dispose of em properly - check out gearscouts.com/power-stations if you need portable power for remote soil sampling equipment.
The other thing to consider is that you can't let them go to seed. Metals can accumulate there as well, and you also don't want to introduce an invasive