Abstract
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been the focus of much recent research as concerns rise about their occurrence in bodies of water worldwide. In an effort to characterize the risk and determine the prevalence of these micropollutants in lakes and rivers, many researchers are examining PPCP removal from impaired water during wastewater treatment and water recycling (soil passage) processes. Biodegradation studies and projects considering combinations of biodegradation and other removal processes have been conducted over a wide range of compound categories and therapeutic classes, as well as across different systems and scales of study. This review summarizes the extent of PPCP removal observed in these various systems.
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Abbreviations
- HRT:
-
Hydraulic retention time
- MBR:
-
Membrane bioreactor
- NSAID:
-
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
- PPCP:
-
Pharmaceutical and personal care product
- SBR:
-
Sequencing batch reactor
- SRT:
-
Solids retention time
- WWTP:
-
Wastewater treatment plant
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Acknowledgements
The work in this publication was supported in part by two EPA fellowships, STAR Research Assistance Agreement Numbers FP-916857 (KO) and F6A20029 (JY), awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, by an ARCS fellowship (JY) and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0606880. It has not been formally reviewed by the EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors, and the EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication.
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Onesios, K.M., Yu, J.T. & Bouwer, E.J. Biodegradation and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in treatment systems: a review. Biodegradation 20, 441–466 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-008-9237-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-008-9237-8