Review: Source, fate, toxicological effect and removal technology of pharmaceuticals in the environment

Abstract

Human pharmaceuticals are considered emerging organic micro-pollutants, originating mostly from hospital and municipal wastewater treatment plants. They can be found widely in a variety of water media, including wastewater, surface water, ground water, coastal water and drinking water at trace levels (ng/L or low μg/L). Many pharmaceuticals show their persistence to biodegradation in water, however their bioaccumulation is still not clear and chronic effects to living organisms for long term exposure need further studies. The occurrences and fate of active pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites in aquatic environments are complicated, which vary between their physio-chemical properties, environment conditions and removal efficiency of water treatment plants. Advanced treatment technologies such as ozonation, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), membrane bioreactor (MBR) show high efficiency to reduce concentrations of pharmaceutical residues in water. © 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.