Nanotechnologies for Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products from Water and Wastewater. A Review

The occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other hazardous substances in surface waters and drinking water and the long-term exposure may represent a potential risk for both the environment and human health. Many studies have evidenced that conventional technologies used for wastewater treatment do not completely remove pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) residues, which can be detected in receiving waters at concentrations ranging from few ng L-1 until more than mu kg L-1. Nanomaterials are of fundamental importance in the current research efforts to develop more efficient water treatment and remediation systems in place of conventional technologies. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the most relevant works available in literature reporting the use of nanosorbents (nanotubes and zeolites), nanofiltration (NF) and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the removal of PPCPs compounds from water and wastewater. The literature review of laboratory- and pilot-scale studies have shown that nanomaterials are promising tools in environmental cleaning processes and water purification, even if more researches are necessary.