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Composting and green technologies for remediation of phthalate (PAE)-contaminated soil: Current status and future perspectives
Summary
Phthalates are chemicals in plastics that can leach into soil and have been linked to hormone disruption in humans, so cleaning them up matters. This review pulls together existing research showing that composting, using microbes to naturally break down contaminants, can remove 25-100% of phthalates from contaminated soil, and works even better when combined with other eco-friendly techniques like biochar filters or specially chosen plants. While promising, scientists still need to figure out which microbes work best and whether these methods are practical and affordable at a larger scale.
Phthalate esters (PAEs) are hazardous organic compounds that are widely added to plastics to enhance their flexibility, temperature, and acidic tolerance. The increase in global consumption and the corresponding environmental pollution of PAEs has caused broad public concerns. As most PAEs accumulate in soil due to their high hydrophobicity, composting is a robust remediation technology for PAE-contaminated soil (efficiency 25%-100%), where microbial activity plays an important role. This review summarized the roles of the microbial community, biodegradation pathways, and specific enzymes involved in the PAE degradation. Also, other green technologies, including biochar adsorption, bioaugmentation, and phytoremediation, for PAE degradation were also presented, compared, and discussed. Composting combined with these technologies significantly enhanced removal efficiency; yet, the properties and roles of each bacterial strain in the degradation, upscaling, and economic feasibility should be clarified in future research.