Antiviral Phytoremediation for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

Presence of pathogenic viruses in wastewater pose a potential threat to public health. Conventional treatment methods often yield moderate viral reduction and toxic byproducts, whereas advanced technologies are underutilised due to their high cost and energy demands. Antiviral phytoremediation emerges as an affordable, eco-friendly and sustainable approach for removing viruses. However, recent bibliometric analysis on wastewater treatment methods from 1976–2025 revealed that only ~0.4% of total literature (~23,000) was related to antiviral phytoremediation suggesting critical knowledge gaps persist. This critical review provides insights into viral removal mechanisms, recent advancements, practical applications, and challenges and opportunities. Antiviral phytoremediation offers a promising multilayer of viral removal mechanisms (i.e., sorption/filtration, rhizosphere-mediated inactivation, internalization, and intracellular degradation mechanisms). Hybrid systems integrating constructed wetlands (CWs) with complementary technologies could achieve high removal efficiencies (i.e., ∼3.0–7 log₁₀ reductions) compared to standalone CWs (i.e., ∼1–3 log₁₀). Although phytoremediation efficiency is moderate for viruses (i.e., ∼45–84%) relative to heavy metal removal (i.e., ∼70–100%), emerging technologies (i.e., CRISPR gene editing, engineered microconsortia, and biosensors) offer promise for enhancement, which is still at proof-of-concept levels. Hybrid antiviral phytoremediation approaches provide sustainable infrastructure supporting public health, climate adaptation, and pandemic preparedness.