Thompson et al. (2026): Integrated thermal and phytoremediation of agricultural soils impacted by PFAS

Jake T. Thompson, Millie Dobson, Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, et al., IN: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2600786123

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent synthetic compounds that have contaminated millions of hectares of agricultural land through decades of biosolids application. Conventional remediation approaches, such as thermal destruction or excavation, are prohibitively expensive, carbon intensive, and leave affected farmland unfit for agriculture. Here, the authors present a potential scalable remediation strategy that combines phytoremediation, biochar production, and enhanced weathering to simultaneously remove PFAS from soil, immobilize residual contamination, and achieve durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Using stochastic modeling constrained by experimental data, they show that soil pH management through alkaline rock amendment can accelerate PFOS removal, shortening remediation timelines by more than a decade under typical contamination levels.

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