{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T05:03:01Z","timestamp":1789534981507,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789084800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"ongoing research funding program","award":["ORF-2026-2191"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ORF-2026-2191"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Soil contamination with phthalate esters (PAEs), particularly in e-waste-impacted regions, poses serious threats to crop productivity, soil health, and environmental sustainability. This study investigates the effectiveness of coconut shell biochar (BC) and zinc-modified biochar (Zn-BC) in mitigating PAE accumulation, improving wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth, and restoring soil fertility in contaminated soils. Characterization analyses revealed that Zn-BC possessed enhanced surface functionality, crystallinity, and elemental composition, favoring greater adsorption potential. Batch adsorption experiments demonstrated that Zn-BC exhibited higher equilibrium adsorption capacities for DMP (23.9 mg\/g) and DBP (26.6 mg\/g), following pseudo-second-order kinetics. Zn-BC significantly improved plant growth parameters including shoot height, root length, and biomass compared to unamended soil in a pot experiment. Post-harvest soil analysis showed increased pH (6.6), CEC (18.3 cmolc\/kg), TOC (1.85%), and microbial biomass carbon (320 mg\/kg) under Zn-BC treatment. Enzymatic activities such as dehydrogenase (45.2 \u00b5g TPF\/g\/d) and phosphatase (58.6 \u00b5g PNP\/g\/h) also improved markedly, indicating restored biological activity. These findings highlight the potential of Zn-BC as a sustainable amendment for remediating phthalate-contaminated soils and improving crop health under environmental stress conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics14090810","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T13:29:29Z","timestamp":1789133369000},"page":"810","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effect of Coconut Shell and Zinc-Modified Biochar Composite Applications on Phthalate Ester (PAE) Accumulation, Growth Performance, and Soil Health in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Aisha Khaled","family":"Chaudhri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan"},{"name":"Centre of Research Excellence, Earth, Climate and Environemnt (CORE-ECE), Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aansa Rukya","family":"Saleem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan"},{"name":"Centre of Research Excellence, Earth, Climate and Environemnt (CORE-ECE), Bahria University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nazneen","family":"Bangash","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-3942-5455","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdulaziz","family":"Alamri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mostafa A.","family":"Abdel-Maksoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Chair of Biomedical Applications of Nanomaterials, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-1294-175X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aljawharah Fahad","family":"Alabbad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2958-8958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Habib","family":"Ullah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Intelligent Electrical and New Energy, Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China"},{"name":"Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing 314100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"100715","article-title":"Electronic waste recycling in South Asia: Overview of associated risks from a cocktail of micro-pollutants and recommendations for sustainable e-waste management","volume":"18","author":"Chakraborty","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater. 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