Fate of selected emerging contaminants in wastewater treatment systems

Currently, the occurrence and fate of emerging contaminants in the environment is one of the most studied subject mainly due to their not fully understood ecological effect. This review concerns the occurrence of selected emerging contaminants in raw and treated wastewater and their fate in wastewater treatment plants. The following classes of emerging contaminants were included in these studies: antibiotics, antimicrobial agents, anticolvusnats, nonosteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, artificial sweeteners, lipid regulating drugs, steroidal hormones, X-ray contrast media, stimulants, insect repellents, plasticizers, and nanoparticles. It was found that the concentration of ECs in influent and effluent of wastewater treatment plants depends on many factors such as geographic location, weather, population density, water supply, treatment system, sampling, and analytical methods. A higher concentrations of most studied contaminants were higher in Asian countries than in European and North America regions. Because it is not possible to remove most of emerging contaminants during conventional treatment process, application of additional treatment method in third treatment step in wastewater treatment plants is required.