The soil environment plays an indispensable role in maintaining ecosystem stability and supporting agricultural productivity. Due to the widespread use and improper disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), their accumulation in soils has become increasingly severe, thereby aggravating soil pollution. PPCPs are characterized by high mobility, strong biological toxicity, and persistence in the environment. They primarily enter the soil environment through sewage irrigation, manure application, and landfill, thereby posing potential risks to soil ecosystems and human health. To mitigate this emerging form of pollution, researchers have explored various physical, chemical, and biological remediation techniques for soils contaminated with PPCPs. However, owing to the complexity of soil matrices and the heterogeneity of pollutant properties, most of these techniques remain confined to laboratory studies or small-scale pilot trials. Based on this comprehensive review, this paper outlines the future development trends in the remediation of PPCP-contaminated soil, identifies critical scientific gaps and engineering bottlenecks, and proposes strategies for achieving efficient and sustainable remediation.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), often resulting from the misuse of antibiotics, have emerged as significant environmental pollutants. Their presence in wastewater poses challenges for conventional treatment methods, which fail to eliminate ARGs completely. This study investigates the use of ionic liquids (ILs) impregnated onto granular activated carbon (GAC) to enhance the removal of ARGs. Two ILs, TEDA ((N,N,N-triethyl-1-dodecylammonium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)imide) and TEGO Dispers 662 C (commercial IL; an imidazolium-based surfactant), were used for impregnation and tested against bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Aeromonas sp., as well as bacteria present in real water samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and greywater. The IL-impregnated GAC demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity, particularly against ARG strains A3 and A4, with >99 % bacterial elimination. Notably, the adsorption capacity of GAC for most pharmaceuticals was not significantly reduced by impregnation with TEDA. Analytical and ecotoxicological tests (using Vibrio fischeri , Sinapis alba , and Eisenia andrei ) confirmed that the ILs remained strongly bound to the GAC surface, reducing their environmental risk. The findings highlight the potential of IL-impregnated activated carbon as a selective antimicrobial agent for wastewater treatment, especially in addressing the spread of antibiotic resistance genes.

Antiparasitic drugs are widely-used in livestock and human parasitic disease control, however, current research lacks solid evidence on their presence and environmental impact, particularly in the high-altitude pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. This study investigated occurrence and distribution of 17 target compounds in the Lhasa River, Xizang, China. The results showed that antiparasitic drugs were 80 %–100 % detected in both river water and sediments (except morantel (MOR) and pyrantel (PYR) in wet season), and benzimidazoles and macrocylic lactones constituted the major groups. The total concentrations reached up to 280.00 ng L −1 in surface water and 662.19 ng g −1 in sediments, respectively, with detection rates and average concentrations relatively higher than existing reports. The concentrations for both water and sediments in wet season were significantly higher than that in dry season (p < 0.01) and spatial distribution followed a trend of downstream > upstream > midstream, being closely related to land use, grazing and population distribution in the watershed. The livestock feces from summer grazing served as the primary non-point source of contamination in the upstream, while combined sources of agriculture and domestic sewage contributed to the highest levels in the downstream. Antiparasitic drugs are easily adsorbed and their water-sediment partition was mainly correlated with sediment organic carbon (R 2 = 0.84). Exposure of most compounds to water flea is at high risk in wet season, with macrocylic lactones posing the highest toxicity. This study provided fundamental data on antiparasitic drugs presence in riverine environment of typical pastoral areas and gained insights for future control strategies.

A hybrid photocatalyst, Mg–Fe-LDH@HC (layered double hydroxide supported on corn-stalk hydrochar), was synthesized via coprecipitation and evaluated for the removal and photodegradation of tetracyclines in water. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of a hydrotalcite-like phase with partial amorphous carbon contribution, while SEM–EDS mapping evidenced a uniform dispersion of Mg–Fe-LDH over the hydrochar surface. The hybrid exhibited an apparent optical bandgap of 1.81 eV, favoring visible-light absorption. Under ultraviolet irradiation and optimized operational conditions (H 2 O 2 = 5.4 μM, pH = 6.0, 25 °C), Mg–Fe-LDH@HC achieved 99.09% total tetracycline degradation after 120 min. Kinetic fitting followed a pseudo-second-order model (R 2 > 0.94), indicating a chemisorption-dominated mechanism coupled with reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Radical scavenging and EDTA inhibition tests demonstrated that photogenerated electrons and •OH radicals were the main oxidative agents, with additional contributions from a heterogeneous Fenton pathway with no evidence of a homogeneous Fenton mechanism. The catalyst retained 91.3% of its initial efficiency after five reuse cycles, with partial recovery after mild regeneration. Acute toxicity assays using Artemia salina , Daphnia magna , and Raphidocelis subcapitata revealed a 65–80% reduction in post-treatment toxicity compared to the untreated effluent. These results demonstrate that Mg–Fe-LDH@HC is an efficient, recyclable, and eco-compatible photocatalyst for the degradation of antibiotic contaminants in water systems.