Abstract
Various contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) have been detected in different ecosystems, posing a threat to living organisms and the environment. Pharmaceuticals are among the many CECs that enter the environment through different pathways, with wastewater treatment plants being the main input of these pollutants. Several technologies for the removal of these pollutants have been developed through the years, but there is still a lack of sustainable technologies suitable for being applied in natural environments. In this regard, solutions based on natural biological processes are attractive for the recovery of contaminated environments. Bioremediation is one of these natural-based solutions and takes advantage of the capacity of microorganisms to degrade different organic pollutants. Degradation of pollutants by native microorganisms is already known to be an important detoxification mechanism that is involved in natural attenuation processes that occur in the environment. Thus, bioremediation technologies based on the selection of natural degrading bacteria seem to be a promising clean-up technology suitable for application in natural environments. In this review, an overview of the occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals is carried out, in which bioremediation tools are explored for the removal of these pollutants from impacted environments.
Highlights
Published: 9 October 2021The presence of so-called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the environment has been reported worldwide in the past years, mostly due to development in industrial and medical sectors
Study reported cyto-genotoxic effects on zebra mussels due to short-term exposure to a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) mixture that caused an increase in oxidative stress, which in turn led to genetic damage [41]
80% of (S)-FLX and 97% of (R)-FLX being degraded [183]. These findings indicated that enantiomeric pharmaceuticals are not biodegraded at the same extent
Summary
The presence of so-called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the environment has been reported worldwide in the past years, mostly due to development in industrial and medical sectors. A watchlist, containing several contaminants of emerging contamination by these compounds To the achieve this goal,data new and high-quality monitoring concern, was created to register monitoring establish the risk that these seand lected prioritization measures were according to The article of Directive contaminants may poseimplemented, to the environment [13]. The risks associated with presence of CECs ininthe environment and public healtheven the nonpersistent compounds can cause negative effects in aquatic systems and organisms [17]. The uncertainty regarding pharmaceuticals effects on differan urgent need for the development of suitable technologies for recovering/remediating ent non-target organisms have been raising concern among the scientific community. Well asreview, their potential effects inthe different environments and in non-target organisms, are In this concerns regarding occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals, as well addressed. Different classes of pharmaceuticals, anti-inflammatory as their potential Among effects inthe different environments and in non-target organisms, are ad- drugs, andressed. Showing the potential of this technology for further applications are presented
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