Biodiversity progress impacts the quality and availability of renewable natural resources. Ecological concerns about air and water pollution have been raised on communal and commercial levels. The continuous release and accumulation of cosmetics and pharmaceutical items in the environment pose significant threats to both ecosystems and human health. The presence of these emerging pollutants from pharmaceutical and cosmetic products has been reported in wastewater streams coming from industrial as well as wastewater treatment plants. This need has driven the development of technologies like advanced oxidation processes such as ozonation, Fenton’s oxidation, photocatalysis, etc. for conventional wastewater treatments. Among these, the photocatalytic processes are presently being efficient since they not only utilize UV light but also visible light. This article mainly focuses on the review of preparation and comparative activity of photocatalysts on cosmetic as well as pharmaceutical wastes degradation. Photocatalysts, in their different forms like nanoparticles, nanorods and nanocomposites, hold great promise due to their stability, non-toxicity and reusability.
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