PubMed · 2026-05-01
A new review maps how a class of weed-killing chemicals called phenylurea herbicides—widely used in farming worldwide—are accumulating across soils, water, and ecosystems far beyond the fields where they're sprayed, and evaluates which cleanup technologies actually work.
Phenylurea herbicides persist across multiple environmental compartments—soil, surface water, groundwater, and living organisms—due to their high mobility and resistance to natural breakdown.
No single removal technology is fully effective; advanced oxidation, bioremediation, and adsorption each have significant trade-offs in cost, efficiency, and real-world applicability.
Novel functional materials and synergistic treatment systems (combining two or more methods) represent the most promising emerging direction for remediation of phenylurea herbicide contamination.