Occurrence Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products Research Articles

Geographical and environmental factors in pharmaceuticals and personal care products removal from drinking water plants

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are unintentionally released into the environment from treated and untreated wastewater, agricultural runoff, and stormwater, and enter drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). However, very little is known about the occurrence of PPCPs and their removal effectiveness during the drinking water treatment processes (conventional or advanced treatment) in multiple DWTPs, especially within the same geographical area. To address this important knowledge gap, source and finished drinking water samples were collected monthly from May to September in 2018 and 2019 from four DWTPs in Northern Ohio, USA. The total and individual PPCP concentrations varied among DWTPs and sampling dates in both source and finished water. Despite the site and time differences, caffeine and 17-beta-estradiol were detected at a frequency of 100% in all four DWTPs on all dates, while acetaminophen, estrone and nicotine consistently were not detected. Significant correlations were identified between the source water PPCPs and some environmental variables, such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), temperature and pH. The PPCP removal efficiency from finished water samples varied depending on DWTP (61.2–84.2%), sampling month (28.3–89.7%), and different PPCP compounds (31.2% and 99.3%). Overall, this study demonstrated that PPCPs were consistently present in low concentrations (ng/L) in the freshwater systems; conventional treatment methods could only partially mitigate PPCP contaminants, while advanced techniques, such as UV-peroxide treatment, provided better removal efficiencies. PPCP removal also depended on the season, with summer demonstrating the highest removal in all four treatment plants.

Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a wastewater treatment plant with Bacillus bio-reactor treatment

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have attracted wide attention due to their environmental impacts and health risks. PPCPs released through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are estimated to be 80 %. Nevertheless, the occurrence of PPCPs in the WWTPs equipped with Bacillus spec.-based bioreactors (BBR) treatment system remains unclear. In this study, sludge and waste water samples were collected during separate winter and summer sampling campaigns from a typical BBR treatment system. The results indicate that out of 58 target PPCPs, 27 compounds were detected in the waste water (0.06–1900 ng/L), and 23 were found in the sludge (0.6–7755 ng/g dw). Paraxanthine was the chemical of the highest abundance in the influent due to the high consumption of the parent compounds caffeine and theobromine. The profile for PPCPs in the wastewater and sludge exhibited no seasonal variation. Overall, the removal of target PPCPs in summer is more effective than the winter. In the BBR bio-reactor, it was found that selected PPCPs (at ng/L level) can be completely removed. The efficiency for individual PPCP removal was increased from 1.0 % to 50 % in this unit, after target specific adjustments of the process. The effective removal of selected PPCPs by the BBR treatment system is explained by combined sorption and biodegradation processing. The re-occurrence of PPCPs in the wastewater was monitored. Negative removal efficiency was explained by the cleavage of Phase II metabolites after the biotransformation process, and the lack of equilibrium for PPCPs in the sludge of the second clarifier. A compound specific risk quotient (RQ) was calculated and applied for studying the potential environmental risks. Diphenhydramine is found with the highest environmental risk in wastewater, and 15 other PPCPs show negligible risks in sewage sludge.

Occurrence and distribution of PPCPs in water from two largest urban lakes of China: First perspective from DGT in-situ measurement

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) are an important group of emerging contaminants that may threaten organisms at trace concentrations. However, research on the occurrence of PPCPs in urban lakes in China is still scarce. In this study, 15 PPCPs in the Tangxun Lake and the Donghu Lake were collected using the diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) technique and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Thirteen of the 15 targeted PPCPs were detected in the Tangxun Lake, and all PPCPs were detected in the Donghu Lake, with total concentrations ranging from 160 to 730 ng/L (average: 401 ng/L) and 187 to 1933 ng/L (average: 653 ng/L), respectively. Bisphenol A (BPA) was the dominant PPCP, followed by disinfectants in both lakes. The total concentrations of PPCPs in the Donghu Lake were higher than those in the Tangxun Lake. The spatial distribution characteristics of PPCPs in the two lakes were different, with higher total concentrations in the eastern part than in the western part of the Tangxun Lake spatially and higher in the north-western part than in the south-eastern part of the Donghu Lake. The results of the risk assessment showed that BPA and estrone posed high risks to the aquatic environment (RQ ≥ 1), while triclosan and estriol presented a medium risk (0.1 ≤ RQ < 1) in some sites. This study was the first attempt to apply DGT for providing vital data on the evaluation of the ecological risk of PPCPs in the two largest lakes in China, and attention should be paid to the long-term ecological effects caused by the occurrence of PPCPs in lakes.

Impacts of garbage classification and disposal on the occurrence of pharmaceutical and personal care products in municipal solid waste leachates: A case study in Shanghai

Leachate generated during the treatment and disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSWs) can be an important source of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment. With the implementation of garbage classification policy in China, the disposal methods of MSWs have changed, while its impacts on the occurrence of PPCPs in the generated leachate remain unknown. In this study, we investigated 49 target PPCPs in the leachates of classified MSWs, i.e. residual waste leachate (RWL) and food waste leachate (FWL), and revealed the influence of garbage classification implementation on the occurrence of PPCPs in leachates to be treated. The results showed the concentration and mass load of target PPCPs in the RWL samples (median values: 34.9 ng/L and 52.3 mg/d, respectively) were significantly higher than those in the FWL samples (median values: 19.3 ng/L and 14.5 mg/d, respectively). Macrolide (ML) antibiotics were the predominant PPCPs in the RWL samples, while in the FWL samples, quinolone (QL) antibiotics exhibited the highest concentration and mass load. The implementation of garbage classification policy led to the reduction of PPCP mass load (from 739 g/d to 262 g/d) in leachates to be treated. The findings are helpful for better designing or managing MSW treatment and disposal processes to minimize the emission of PPCPs from MSW leachates.

What Approaches Should be Used to Prioritize Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products for Research on Environmental and Human Health Exposure and Effects?

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are released from multiple anthropogenic sources and thus have a ubiquitous presence in the environment. The environmental exposure and potential effects of PPCPs on biota and humans has aroused concern within the scientific community and the public. Risk assessments are commonly conducted to evaluate the likelihood of chemicals including PPCPs that pose health threats to organisms inhabiting various environmental compartments and humans. Because thousands of PPCPs are currently used, it is impractical to assess the environmental risk of all of them due to data limitations; in addition, new PPCPs are continually being produced. Prioritization approaches, based either on exposure, hazard, or risk, provide a possible means by which those PPCPs that are likely to pose the greatest risk to the environment are identified, thereby enabling more effective allocation of resources in environmental monitoring programs in specific geographical locations and ecotoxicological investigations. In the present review, the importance and current knowledge concerning PPCP occurrence and risk are discussed and priorities for future research are proposed, in terms of PPCP exposure (e.g., optimization of exposure modeling in freshwater ecosystems and more monitoring of PPCPs in the marine environment) or hazard (e.g., differential risk of PPCPs to lower vs. higher trophic level species and risks to human health). Recommended research questions for the next 10 years are also provided, which can be answered by future studies on prioritization of PPCPs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:488-501. © 2022 SETAC.

Do high levels of PPCPs in landfill leachates influence the water environment in the vicinity of landfills? A case study of the largest landfill in China

Landfill leachates are identified as a significant source of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), which might pose a threat to groundwater and surface water nearby the landfill. However, knowledge of PPCP contamination in the surrounding water environment of landfills is very limited. Here we investigated eighteen PPCPs in water environment near the largest landfill in China, focusing on their occurrences and spatial distribution, as well as the environmental risks. The results showed the concentration of target PPCPs was below the limit of quantification (<LOQ) to 53.6 ng/L in the adjacent groundwater samples, decreasing with the distance of sampling sites from landfill. The composition pattern of PPCPs in the groundwater was similar to that in raw landfill leachate. These observations indicated a considerable impact of raw landfill leachates on PPCP contamination in the nearby groundwater. In surface water samples, the occurrence of PPCPs was not consistent with that in raw or treated landfill leachates, but similar to that in the same watershed far away from landfill. Spatially, no obvious difference in the PPCPs concentrations was observed, indicating negligible contribution of landfill on PPCPs in surrounding surface water. The findings allowed the first insights into the impacts of well-constructed and managed landfills on PPCP contamination in the surrounding water environment.

Fate and Transport of PPCPs in the Environment: A Review on Occurrences, Sources, and Cases

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment have been intensively studied recently. These compounds can cause serious problem in environment. Intake of these compounds in low concentration can threat human health due to its reactivity and chemical composition. Occurrences of PPCPs in environments are important to recognize in order to draw broad understanding on which mitigation of PPCPs can be deliberated. This review provides general information about occurrence of PPCPs. Moreover, sources of PPCPs in the environment are comprehensively explained. The fate and transport mechanisms of PPCPs are summarized based on important studies of selected groups of PPCPs which conducted through years based on several previous study cases are mentioned and elaborated to pinpoint the existence of these pollutants. In the end, identification of the current research limitation and further recommendations are proposed for improving mitigation process and addressing further research.

Occurrence of PPCPs in a Brazilian water reservoir and their removal efficiency by ecological filtration

The presence of PPCPs (Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products) in water sources and drinking water has concerned researchers in recent times. This study was carried out to evaluate the occurrence of 6 PPCPs (namely paracetamol, diclofenac, naproxen, ibuprofen, benzophenone-3 and methylparaben) in the Lobo reservoir, their degradation products, and how efficiently they were removed by 22 ecological filters, considering individual and mixture of compounds. There were 3 spiking events of PPCPs (2 μg L−1) in the ecological filter influents conducted with a lag period of 15 days between spikes. Water samples were collected from the influent and effluent of the filters at 3, 6 and 24 h after each spiking event. All target PPCPs were identified in the Lobo reservoir water in the range of μg L−1. The personal care products were detected with 100% frequency in the samples, and in higher concentrations compared to the pharmaceuticals. Degradation products of diclofenac and benzophenone-3 were identified in the water samples. Results of this investigation show that ecological filtration was an effective process (70–99%) to remove 2 μg L−1 of the selected PPCPs, and demonstrated that the filters were resilient to individual compounds and to their mixtures.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the urban river across the megacity Shanghai: Occurrence, source apportionment and a snapshot of influence of rainfall.

Occurrence of eleven pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) along Huangpu River, a representative urban river of megacity Shanghai, was investigated in four sampling campaigns. The overall concentrations of PPCPs ranged from <LOQ to 1455 ng/L, and untreated domestic wastewater was proposed as an important source of PPCPs in Huangpu River. Higher contamination levels of target PPCPs were detected in the lower reach (urban area) and dry season, compared to those in the upper reach (rural area) and wet season, respectively. The influence of rainfall on the occurrence of PPCPs was also extensively discussed in different regions along Huangpu River. At sampling sites in the rural area, similar or even lower concentrations of PPCPs were detected after rainfall; while increased concentrations of PPCPs were observed at most sampling sites, especially in the urban area, suggesting that overflow of untreated wastewater exceeding the capacity of wastewater treatment plants and leachates generated at temporary storage and transfer station of solid wastes might be the additional sources of PPCPs in the urban area in rainy days. These findings indicated that management of wastewater or/and solid wastes was more important to solve the problem of PPCPs contamination in the urban river of megacity.

Pepper mild mottle virus as an indicator and a tracer of fecal pollution in water environments: Comparative evaluation with wastewater-tracer pharmaceuticals in Hanoi, Vietnam

We analyzed pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in 36 samples taken from surface water, wastewater, groundwater, tap water and bottled water in Hanoi, Vietnam. We then compared the occurrence and fates of PMMoV with pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), which are known wastewater tracers. PMMoV was detected in 94% of the surface water samples (ponds, water from irrigated farmlands and rivers) and in all the wastewater samples. The PMMoV concentration ranged from 5.5×106–7.2×106copies/L in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influents, 6.5×105–8.5×105copies/L in WWTP effluents and 1.0×104–1.8×106copies/L in surface water. Among the sixty PPCPs analyzed, caffeine and carbamazepine had high detection rates in surface water (100% and 88%, respectively). In surface water, the concentration ratio of PMMoV to caffeine remained unchanged than that in WWTP influents, suggesting that the persistence of PMMoV in surface water was comparable to that of caffeine. The persistence and the large concentration ratio of PMMoV in WWTP influents to the method detection limit would account for its ubiquitous detection in surface water. In comparison, human enteric viruses (HEV) were less frequently detected (18–59%) than PMMoV in surface water, probably because of their faster decay. Together with the reported high human feces-specificity, our results suggested that PMMoV is useful as a sensitive fecal indicator for evaluating the potential occurrence of pathogenic viruses in surface water. Moreover, PMMoV can be useful as a moderately conservative fecal tracer for specifically tracking fecal pollution of surface water. PMMoV was detected in 38% of the groundwater samples at low concentrations (up to 19copies/L). PMMoV was not detected in the tap water and bottled water samples. In groundwater, tap water and bottled water samples, the occurrence of PPCPs and HEV disagreed with that of PMMoV, suggesting that PMMoV is not suitable as an indicator or a tracer in those waters.

Occurrence of PPCPs in the marine environment: a review.

Little research has been conducted on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the marine environment despite being increasingly impacted by these contaminants. This article reviews data on the occurrence of PPCPs in seawater, sediment, and organisms in the marine environment. Data pertaining to 196 pharmaceuticals and 37 personal care products reported from more than 50 marine sites are analyzed while taking sampling strategies and analytical methods into account. Particular attention is focused on the most frequently detected substances at highest concentrations. A snapshot of the most impacted marine sites is provided by comparing the highest concentrations reported for quantified substances. The present review reveals that: (i) PPCPs are widespread in seawater, particularly at sites impacted by anthropogenic activities, and (ii) the most frequently investigated and detected molecules in seawater and sediments are antibiotics, such as erythromycin. Moreover, this review points out other PPCPs of concern, such as ultraviolet filters, and underlines the scarcity of data on those substances despite recent evidence on their occurrence in marine organisms. The exposure of marine organisms in regard to these insufficient data is discussed.

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and associated environmental risks in the central and lower Yangtze river, China

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) residues are being highlighted around the world as of emerging concern in surface waters. Here the occurrence of PPCPs in the central and lower Yangtze River, along with four large freshwater lakes within the river basin (Dongting, Poyang, Tai, and Chao) was reported. Fifteen out of twenty selected PPCPs were detected in the collected surface water samples. Caffeine, paraxanthine, sulfamethazine, and clindamycin were detected with 100 percent frequency in the Yangtze River. In the river, the highest average concentration was observed for erythromycin (296ngL−1), followed by caffeine (142ngL−1) and paraxanthine (41ngL−1). In the four lakes, total PPCP concentrations were much higher in the Chao (1547ngL−1) and Tai (1087ngL−1) lakes compared to the Poyang (108ngL−1) and Dongting (137ngL−1) lakes. Lincomycin and clindamycin were most abundant in the lakes, especially in the Tai Lake. Environmental risk assessment for the worst case scenario was assessed using calculated risk quotients, and indicates a high environmental risk of erythromycin and clarithromycin in the Yangtze River, clarithromycin in the Chao Lake, and clindamycin in the Tai Lake.

Occurrence and fate of pharmaceutical and personal care products in a sewage treatment works

The occurrence and fate of eight pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) during sewage treatment has been studied in a pilot-scale treatment plant, comprising a primary settler (2.85 m(3)), an aeration tank (1.845 m(3)) and a secondary clarifier (0.5 m(3)), placed on site at a wastewater treatment works in the north west of the UK. It was fed both with raw sewage and the return liquor produced after sludge centrifugation, thus representing the most common configuration for a municipal sewage treatment plant based on the activated sludge process. Samples were taken at six different locations, including the return liquor stream, and analysed for musk fragrances and pharmaceutically active compounds belonging to various therapeutic groups such as anti-inflammatory drugs, tranquillisers and antiepileptics. Mass balances were conducted for those PPCPs that were quantifiable. The fate of the PPCPs was found to differ according to their physical-chemical characteristics. Anti-inflammatories underwent a degradation process and were almost completely removed from sewage during the biological treatment step. Musk fragrances were only partially removed, through adsorption onto the primary suspended solids and the biomass in the aerobic process, due to their strong lipophilic characteristics. The results of this study provide increasing evidence that the partial removal of these substances through the sewage treatment process contribute to the environmental occurrence of PPCPs. Consequently, existing STPs should be upgraded in order to attenuate the release of these substances into the aquatic environment.

Occurrence of PPCPs at a Wastewater Treatment Plant and in Soil and Groundwater at a Land Application Site

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) can reach soil and aquatic environments through land application of wastewater effluent and agricultural runoff. The objective of this research was to assess the fate of PPCPs at field scale. PPCPs were measured systematically in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and in soil and groundwater receiving treated effluent from the WWTP. A land application site in West Texas was used as the study site; it has received treated wastewater effluent from the WWTP for more than 70 years in order to remove additional nutrients and irrigate non-edible crops. Target compounds (estrone, 17β-estradiol, estriol, 17α-ethynylestradiol, triclosan, caffeine, ibuprofen, and ciprofloxacin) in wastewater, sewage sludge, soil, and groundwater were determined using HPLC/UV with qualitative confirmatory analyses using GC/MS. Samples were collected quarterly over 12 months for wastewater and sludge samples and over 9 months for soil and groundwater samples. Results indicated that concentrations of PPCPs in wastewater influent, effluent, sludge solid phase, and sludge liquid phase were in the range of non-detected (ND)-183 μg/L, ND-83 μg/L, ND-19 μg/g, and ND-50 μg/L, respectively. Concentrations in soil and groundwater samples were in the range of ND-319 ng/g and ND-1,745 μg/L, respectively. GC/MS confirmation data were consistent with the results of HPLC/UV analyses. Overall, data indicate that PPCPs in the wastewater effluent from the WWTP transport both vertically and horizontally in the soil, and eventually reach groundwater following land application of the effluent.

Pharma-Ecology – The Occurrence and Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment By Patrick K. Jjemba Hoboken, New Jersey:John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc., 2008. 314 pp. ISBN: 978-0-470-04630-2, $95

Vol. 117, No. 4 AnnouncementsOpen AccessPharma-Ecology – The Occurrence and Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment Rolf U. Halden Rolf U. Halden Search for more papers by this author Published:1 April 2009https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.117-a172aAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment are a hot topic. Emitted from various sources, veterinary antibiotics, prescription drugs, and beauty products continuously enter the environment, where they have been detected at trace levels in reclaimed wastewater, surface and ground water, sludge-amended agricultural soils, aquatic and terrestrial biota, as well as in raw and finished drinking water. Fueled by media coverage, the general public has taken notice and is challenging the scientific and regulatory community to assess potential human health and ecological risks, and to take appropriate action where needed. Patrick K. Jjemba, a senior research analyst for innovation and technology with American Water, takes on the ambitious task of framing the complex issue of PPCPs in the environment.The first chapter introduces industrial agriculture, domestic waste-water treatment, and the land application of municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) as principal sources of PPCPs in the environment. For balance, usage rates of veterinary antibiotics are provided from both the agricultural industry and concerned scientists. Personal care products are categorized as fragrances and musks, detergents, and disinfectants. Human pharmaceuticals are discussed based on the ailment targeted. Jjemba suggests that the increase in the use of antidepressants is attributable at least partly to aggressive marketing. This treatise is comprehensive and well referenced.The next, key chapter deals with the detection and occurrence of PPCPs in the environment. The brief description of instrumentation contains minor technical inaccuracies. The challenge of accurately determining environmental concentrations in the parts-per-trillion (ppt) range is correctly portrayed, but readers receive no guidance on how to distinguish high-quality data from less rigorous monitoring information. A table presenting concentrations of individual compounds across different media to illustrate the wide range of environmental occurrences, from ppt levels in surface and drinking water to parts-per-million levels (ppm) in sludge-amended soils would have been useful. Although most information is presented adequately, readability is diminished by a missing figure caption, conflicting figure labels, environmental transport data from multiple independent studies that should not be interpreted as a single data set, a cited but unreferenced study, and some typos in reproduced equations.Ensuing chapters on ecopharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and ecotoxicity are detailed and much more convincing. These important aspects make the book a worthwhile investment, and also help distinguish it from other PPCP compendia. A valuable chapter on technologies for wastewater and water treatment provides a good overview of conventional and advanced treatment technologies and their effectiveness in removing the trace contaminants of interest. Missing from this section are pollution prevention strategies, such as separation of urine and feces at the source followed by individual treatment of both waste streams, as well as alternatives to centralized sanitary sewer systems, such as no-flush composting toilets.The final pages are dedicated to future needs, including the development of better risk assessment approaches, a consideration of PPCPs as mixtures rather than single compounds, the potential of green chemistry in drug design, the utility of quantitative structure activity relationships in ecotoxicology, and the use of genomic approaches in bioassays. Jjemba closes with a call for a reexamination of the drug approval process and for tighter control of patient-directed advertising by the pharmaceutical industry.How is this book different from others on the topic? Jjemba is the sole author, providing comprehensive coverage of the various PPCP aspects in a logical order and in a consistent style of presentation. Edited compendia containting contributions form multiple authors can be more authoritative but also more disjointed. Jjemba acknowledges the risk that some readers may be “dissatisfied with the level of coverage of one aspect or another, particularly aspects that directly relate to their respective discipline.”Jjemba’s likely audience is newcomers seeking a general understanding of the subject and experts interested in broadening their perspectives. The more than 600 references provided will help readers pursue original sources.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 117, No. 4 April 2009Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 April 2009Published in print1 April 2009 Financial disclosures License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. 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Occurrence of steroid estrogens, endocrine-disrupting phenols, and acid pharmaceutical residues in urban riverine water of the Pearl River Delta, South China

A scoping study was conducted to investigate the residues of nineteen pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), including 4 natural and 3 synthetic steroid estrogens, 7 endocrine-disrupting phenols, and 5 acid pharmaceuticals in three urban streams and the Major Pearl River at Guangzhou, a megapolis in the Pearl River Delta, South China. Estrone was detected in > 60% water samples with a maximum concentration of 65 ng L − 1 . Endocrine-disrupting phenols (nonylphenol, bisphenol A, triclosan, 2-phenylphenol, methyparaben, and propylparaben) were found to be widely present at rather high concentrations in the urban riverine water of Guangzhou. Salicylic acid, clofibric acid and ibuprofen were detected in most water samples with maximum concentrations of 2098, 248 and 1417 ng L − 1 respectively, whereas naproxen was less frequently detected and also at lower concentration. Both the detection frequencies and median concentrations of the PPCPs appeared higher during the low-flow season than during the high-flow season. The seasonal difference in PPCPs occurrence was probably attributed to the dilution effect caused by the rainfall. PPCPs in the urban riverine water of Guangzhou originated mainly from random discharge and/or leakage of municipal wastewater. PPCPs contamination in the Major Pearl River may be of a potential environmental issue, especially during the low-flow season.

Occurrence and Fate of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Biosolids

Each year, large quantities of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are used worldwide. Once conveyed to wastewater treatment plants, PPCPs can remain unchanged or undergo partial or complete transformation during wastewater treatment processes before discharge into the environment via effluent and biosolids for land application. Biosolids can be a major sink for some PPCPs. Previous investigations have indicated that land application of biosolids may be a potential important route through which PPCPs enter the environment. However, no information is available on exactly how closely the concentrations of PPCPs in the environmental media are related to the land application of PPCP-containing biosolids. This paper reviews currently available information on the occurrence of PPCPs in biosolids, methods of analysis, the potential fate of PPCPs in biosolids-applied soils, and composting as a potential means for removal of PPCPs from biosolids.