Bryophytes in removal of environmental contaminants: Review and bibliometric analysis

Bryophytes, especially mosses, have received growing attention because of their environmental applications, such as biosorption and phytoremediation. In general, this group is known for its sensitivity to environmental changes and the presence of pollutants such as metals, metalloids, persistent organic pollutants (POP), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), components that are harmful to the environment and human health. Considering that bryophytes are cosmopolitan plants, the development of approaches employing them has great potential for use in different locations around the world. Given this, the present review seeks to evaluate the main aspects related to the environmental application of bryophytes in the removal of contaminants through biosorption and phytoremediation. For this purpose, the VOSviewer software was used in the elaboration of bibliometric maps, using information obtained from the Web of Science platform. The search related to the application of mosses in phytoremediation found 174 publications, the search related to the application of mosses in biosorption obtained 140 results. Of this total, it was observed that most studies were developed from 2005 onwards for both research areas, 2020 being the year with the largest number of studies using bryophytes in phytoremediation (n = 17), thus demonstrating that use this group is in growing development and has valuable application potential in the fields of biosorption and phytoremediation.