Subcritical water extraction for the remediation of phthalate ester-contaminated soil

► We used subcritical water as a green extraction fluid for the removal of twelve phthalate esters in soil. ► The optimum conditions were set at 250 °C, 10 MPa and 30 min of extraction time. ► Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and HPLC-UV were used to check for soil remediation efficiency. ► The results indicated removal efficiencies ranged from 80 to 90%.