Environmental impact and biological removal processes of pharmaceutically active compounds: The particular case of sulfonamides, anticonvulsants and steroid estrogens

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have recently received wide attention in the scientific community due to their extensive consumption for human health and consequent discharge to the environment. Release of PhACs into the environment, even in trace amounts, can cause serious environmental damage. This has become a major concern and their removal from water sources is a priority. Although a few PhACs are efficiently removed in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), others remain recalcitrant, and their release is causing damage. In this review, the current state of the art on the biological removal processes of sulfonamide sulfamethoxazole (SMX), the anticonvulsant carbamazepine (CBZ), and steroid estrogens 17-estradiol (E2) and 17-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are discussed, along with their environmental impact. Other systems beyond activated sludge, such as membrane bioreactors, enzymatic membrane reactors, fungi treatments and hybrid systems are also becoming of major interest and are being evaluated for the removal of these compounds. Future perspectives are addressed.Cristiano Leal is recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-15) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.