Recent advances and future outlook for treatment of pharmaceutical from water: an overview

Abstract

Water pollution and wastewater treatment problems are considered one of the largest challenges in the world today, and it is very crucial to pick the best way to remove these kinds of pollutants. This systematic review's objective is to categorize and investigate the strategies for eliminating pharmaceutical contaminants from aquatic environments, focusing on advanced oxidation techniques. For this purpose, Google Scholar, PubMed, Nature, Scopus, Web of Science, American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Springer, and Royal Society of Chemistry databases with the keywords Pharmaceuticals, Water Treatment, Advanced Oxidation Process, Photolysis, Fenton, Ozonation, Sonolysis, and Electrochemical were used. Physical, chemical, thermal, and biological methods are employed to eliminate these contaminants. However, even after purification, the drugs and resulting metabolites might still be present in the environment and cause serious damage. The analysis of studies revealed that advanced oxidation processes, which deserve more attention, can eliminate pharmaceutical contaminants because of their quick reaction times and strong oxidation capacities. This study demonstrated how environmental factors like pH, temperature, the content of the water, sunlight, etc., affect drug removal. Also, methods based on ozonation, ultrasonic radiation, electrochemical, ultraviolet radiation, and Fenton were investigated. Multiple hybrid systems with characteristics like high degradation efficiency, no secondary pollution production, and compatibility with the environment, high mineralization, and low operating costs were recommended as potential systems for further research.