Abstract: With the development of modern industry, the release of heavy metals into the environment has been accelerating annually. Heavy metal contamination poses a threat to human health and life quality. So it has become a serious problem in environment and society. This problem may be partially solved by the emerging phytoremediation technology. Phytoremediation is a kind of new biotechnology. The plant_based approach to remediation takes advantage of the remarkable ability of plants to concentrate element and compounds from the environment and to metabolize detoxified molecules in their tissues. This review concentrates on the mechanisms of phytoremediation in solving heavy metal contamination.