Contaminants of emerging concerns and advanced treatment technologies

Abstract

Contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) are of major importance in today's era owing to their potential toxic effect on environment and human health. Due to their low concentrations and complex structures, it is difficult to treat them. Owing to their toxic nature, it is imperative to remove these contaminants from water and wastewater sources. Most common treatment methods include activated sludge process, coagulation, and adsorption; however, these have shortcomings of their own, such as high costs, selectivity, and secondary pollution. New treatment processes such as integrated/hybrid processes, nanoadsorbents, photobioreactors, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can overcome these shortcomings. The review highlights evolution of CECs, need for CEC removal, evolution of different CEC remediation processes, and challenges faced by these technologies. With a variety of CECs in the environment, it is important to understand factors that influence selection of the treatment process; the review highlights some of these factors.