Systematic review of phytoremediation of airborne benzene and toluene

Abstract

Declining Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in confined spaces and with insufficientventilation poses serious health risks in industrial and office environments.The presence of volatile organic compounds in indoor air can cause humandiseases, highlighting the need for effective and sustainable air qualityimprovement strategies. Phytoremediation offers an efficient, eco-friendlyapproach for removing contaminants from air, soil, and water, with plantspecies differing in their absorption capacities. This systematic review,conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews andMeta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, identifies plant species effective inthe phytoremediation of airborne benzene and toluene and examines factorsinfluencing their performance. Comprehensive searches of Scopus, Web ofScience, Google Scholar, ProQuest, MagIran, and Irandoc databases retrievedrelevant studies through a three-stage screening process (title, abstract, andfull-text review). Findings highlight Hedera helix and Epipremnum aureumas the most frequently used and efficient species for benzene and tolueneremoval. Moreover, enhancing factors such as increasing plant exposuretime to pollutants, repeated injection cycles, and modifications to plantcharacteristics or substrate can significantly improve phytoremediationefficiency. Comparative analysis of conventional and enhanced methodsrevealed that enhanced phytoremediation plants improve both the rate andextent of pollutant removal and can serve as cost-effective, sustainable,and eco-friendly strategies for controlling IAQ. Findings also suggest thatselecting appropriate plant species and designing combined systems canmaximize IAQ improvement and promote human health in industrial andoffice settings. Overall, phytoremediation, particularly using multiple plantspecies under optimized environmental conditions, can effectively enhanceindoor air quality and guide the design of practical phytoremediation systems