Environmental Research 217 (2023) 114844 Available online 18 November 2022 0013-9351/© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Critical review on phytoremediation of polyfuoroalkyl substances from environmental matrices: Need for global concern Elaheh Kavusi a, 1 , Behnaz Shahi Khalaf Ansar a, 1 , Samira Ebrahimi b , Ritika Sharma c , Seyede Shideh Ghoreishi b , Khatereh Nobaharan d , Sima Abdoli e , Zahra Dehghanian f , Behnam Asgari Lajayer g, * , Venkatramanan Senapathi h , G.W. Price i , Tess Astatkie i a Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran b Department of Plant Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran c Department of Botany, Central University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India d 12/9 Browns Avenue, Ringwood, Melbourne, VIC, 3134, Australia e Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran f Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran g Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran h Department of Disaster Management, Alagappa University Karaikudi, 630003, Tamilnadu, India i Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS, B2N 5E3, Canada A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: PFAS Water pollution Soil pollution Hyperaccumulator plants Soil remediation ABSTRACT Poly- and perfuoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of emerging organic contaminants that are impervious to standard physicochemical treatments. The widespread use of PFAS poses serious environmental issues. PFAS pollution of soils and water has become a signifcant issue due to the harmful effects of these chemicals both on the environment and public health. Owing to their complex chemical structures and interaction with soil and water, PFAS are diffcult to remove from the environment. Traditional soil remediation procedures have not been successful in reducing or removing them from the environment. Therefore, this review focuses on new phytor- emediation techniques for PFAS contamination of soils and water. The bioaccumulation and dispersion of PFAS inside plant compartments has shown great potential for phytoremediation, which is a promising and unique technology that is realistic, cost-effective, and may be employed as a wide scale in situ remediation strategy. 1. Introduction Perfuoroalkyl and polyfuoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become a serious concern in recent years due to extensive contamination of sur- face and groundwater (Abunada et al., 2020). The discovery of per- fuorooctane sulfonic acid, C 8 F 17 SO 3 H (PFOS), in animals led to the discovery of PFAS (Abunada et al., 2020; Buck et al., 2011; Fu et al., 2014). PFAS compounds have recently received considerable global attention due to their environmental durability and toxicity, bio- accumulation potential, and possible negative health implications (Araújo et al., 2022). In most PFAS, the hydrogen molecules in the aliphatic carbon group have either been completely (prefx: per-) or partially (prefx: poly-) replaced by fuorine group (ITRC, 2020). There is a strong bond between carbon and fuorine leading to the formation of a polar compound (Cordner et al., 2019). They are highly fuorinated surfactants that have been used in a different industrial application, such as the production of fuoropolymers, clothing, frefghting foams, textile and carpet protective coatings, and food packaging (ATSDR, 2018; Buck et al., 2011; Cordner et al., 2019; EPA, U.S., 2016; F` abrega et al., 2014; Fu et al., 2014; Giesy and Kannan, 2001). Perfuorooctanoic acid, C 7 F 15 COOH (PFOA), and PFOS, are the two most often produced and found PFAS in the environment (Buck et al., 2011). Current studies have revealed the presence of PFAS in different environmental matrices, including air, water, sediment, and a range of different organisms across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Cao et al., 2015; Giesy and Kannan, 2001; Zareitalabad et al., 2013). The most predominant compounds, PFOS and PFOA, have been detected in a wide range of water systems, including groundwater, lakes, and rivers (F` abrega et al., 2014; ITRC, 2020; Liu et al., 2017a). * Corresponding author. E-mail address: h-asgari@tabrizu.ac.ir (B. Asgari Lajayer). 1 These two authors have contributed equally to a paper. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envres https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114844 Received 17 August 2022; Received in revised form 12 November 2022; Accepted 15 November 2022