A major distinction between elemental and organic pollutants: Most organic pollutants can be mineralized, while elements cannot.
	Organic pollutants can be degraded to harmless small molecules. A Win Win situation! Organic pollutants that can be degraded by plants and bacteria include TNT, DTE, DEE, TCE (trichloroethylene), benzopyrenes, methylene chloride, and carbon tetrachloride.
	Elemental pollutants can be managed by extraction, detoxification (i.e., transformation to a different redox state or a different chemical species), sequestration, and hyperaccumulated for above-ground harvest, but elements are essentially immutable. Only nuclear fission or fusion can alter an element. Elemental pollutants include mercury, cadmium, arsenic, lead, and chromium and radioactive isotopes of uranium, and technicium. These are the heavy metals, metalloids, and radioisotopes of the elements found in the periodic table. Because they are immutable elemental pollutants, they are the most costly to remediate.

Meagher 2000

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