Emerging pollutants in aquatic environment: a global challenge

Abstract

Emerging pollutants (EPs) in aquatic environments have become a global environmental issue due to their toxicity, persistence, and non-biodegradablility, posing risks to both aquatic life and human health. This review focuses on several challenging issues for EPs in an aquatic environment, especially their monitoring program, analysis, risk assessment, and treatment processes, by reviewing more than 200 peer-reviewed articles published across the world in the past 20 years. Due to the limited effectiveness of traditional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), lack of adequate sanitation, and direct discharging of untreated wastewater, EPs originate from these sources, either directly discharging into water bodies continuously or slowly leaching via soils, posing a significant threat to aquatic life and human health. Current knowledge of EPs ecotoxicity is extremely insufficient because only a few of these compounds have been evaluated toxicologically. Due to the lack of reliable analytical and toxicity assessment methods, EPs are found to be in extremely low concentrations in aquatic systems and have widely varying physical and chemical properties; cost-effective techniques for the detection and removal of EPs are highly challenging. Therefore, comprehensive research and development are necessary for monitoring, risk assessment, and effective removal of EPs.