Persistent organohalogen pollutants—including halogenated nitrophenols (HNCs), trichloroethylene (TCE), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—pose serious environmental and health risks due to their stability, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential. This review critically assesses current remediation technologies including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), adsorption, membrane filtration, and thermal treatments. While these methods can be effective, they are often limited by high costs, energy demands, toxic byproduct formation, and sustainability concerns. Emerging biological approaches offer promising alternatives. Among these, fungal-based degradation methods (mycodegradation) remain significantly underrepresented in the literature, despite fungi demonstrating a high tolerance to contaminants and the ability to degrade structurally complex compounds. Key findings reveal that white-rot fungi such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor possess enzymatic systems capable of breaking down persistent organohalogens under conditions that inhibit bacterial activity. This review also identifies critical research gaps, including the need for direct comparative studies between fungal and bacterial systems. The findings suggest that integrating mycodegradation into broader treatment frameworks could enhance the environmental performance and reduce the long-term remediation costs. Overall, this review highlights the importance of diversifying remediation strategies to include scalable, low-impact biological methods for addressing the global challenge of organohalogen contamination.

Chlorinated and fluorinated nitrophenols (HNCs) are widely used in agriculture and industry, with a global market valued at USD $25 billion, one which is expected to grow by 5% by 2030. However, these compounds pose significant environmental risks; they are classified as toxic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Existing treatment methods include advanced oxidation, adsorption, and bioremediation, though to date, there has been only limited research on fungal remediation of these halogenated pollutants. This study aims to explore a sustainable approach by using fungi’s potential to degrade HNCs in minimal media. Ten fungi were selected through literature screening; Caldariomyces fumago and Curvularia sp. were highly effective, degrading over 50% of 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol (2C4NP) and 80% of 5-fluoro-2-nitrophenol (5F2NP) within 24 and 48 h, respectively. Additionally, five strains showed degradation potential for fluorinated compounds. Further studies revealed C. fumago could degrade up to 1 mM of chlorinated compounds and 12 mM of fluorinated compounds, far exceeding any known environmental concentrations of HNCs; importantly, ecotoxicology tests demonstrated reductions in toxicity of 77% and 85%, respectively. This work highlights fungi’s underexplored ability to degrade toxic HNCs, offering a sustainable mycoremediation strategy and positioning mycology as a critical tool for future environmental remediation efforts.

Gold mine waste has elevated arsenic (As) concentrations that exceed the Australian national soil guidance values (100 mg/kg). In Australia, Victoria has reported As concentrations of 47,000 mg/kg, causing concern because As is toxic to living organisms; it is carcinogenic, has human health implications and damages ecosystems. Phytostabilisation is a sustainable alternative that is cost-effective, aims to immobilise As in the roots/rhizosphere and restore soil health. Australian natives were previously investigated for phytoremediation and results identified Poa labillardieri as a potential phytostabilising species. Soil amendments have soil ameliorating abilities and previous studies have shown that soil amendments enhance phytostabilisation. This study aimed to identify a soil amendment to optimise phytostabilisation using P. labillardieri. A greenhouse mesocosm experiment was conducted for 100 days and involved soil amendments, 5% biochar, 5% compost and 1% ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) applied individually or in combination. The treatment combination of 5% biochar and 5% compost (BC), significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased root As concentrations (657 ± 135 mg/kg) compared to the unamended control (317 ± 12 mg/kg). Shoot As concentrations ranged between 30 and 44 mg/kg for all treatments. The BC treatment increased soil-to-root bioaccumulation to 0.97, 1 being optimal for phytostabilisation. Soil As concentrations significantly decreased (677 ± 21.5 mg/kg) compared to the unamended control (781 ± 6.32 mg/kg). Additionally, removal of As from soil improved from 6.83 ± 5.93 to 50 ± 24 mg/m³ and in vitro bioaccessibility decreased from 47.0 ± 6.92 to 35.8 ± 0.72%. The BC treatment had greater root (0.01 ± 0.01 g), shoot (0.05 ± 0.02 g) and total biomass (0.06 ± 0.03 g), compared to the control (0.004 ± 0.002 g root biomass; 0.01 ± 0.01 g shoot biomass; 0.014 ± 0.012 g total biomass). The BC treatment shows potential to assist phytostabilisation using P. labillardieri; It is recommended that a field trial be conducted with the newly developed phytostabilisation technique involving P. labillardieri and soil amendment 5% biochar plus 5% compost to validate the results under natural climatic conditions.