Cited - citing and commenting on papers, articles - in draft
Emerging Contaminants
also referred to as: .... (?)
Context
The issue of 'emerging contaminants' appears to really have gained momentum in about the last 10 to 15 years.
Initially it felt that the water sector and society in general was in denial phase about its existence and this seemed to be supported by the fact that they were found in very low concentrations and possibly not that significant for humans.
There was also the question of the 'range' of micro-pollutants (micro in the sense of very low concentrations) and it appears these were referred to with various 'labels' e.g. PPCPs, EDCs, OMPs and lately ECs and CECs. A rough way to define them are those pollutants that are not traditionally processed in WWTPs. Volatile organics, nutrients for organism growth and pathogens are typically dealt with in a WWTP. Perhaps at this stage of the discussion a another rough classification could be those manufactured products in a modern industrial age as compared to the heavy industry era where heavy metals, pesticides and herbicides would typically belong.
Thus an issue that needs thus to be dealt with is what is the range of 'manufactured' products that we are dealing with that could be useful when treating water supplies. The following references appear to be useful in this regard.
'Water Reuse: Emerging Contaminants Elimination—Progress and Trends'
Djamel Ghernaout1, Noureddine Elboughdiri
Abstract
“This work concentrates on the review paper published by Ahmed et al . [1] which is dedicated to the elimination of emerging contaminants (ECs) using biological, chemical and hybrid techniques in effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Endocrine disruption chemicals (EDCs) are better reduced by a membrane bioreactor (MBR), activated sludge, and aeration processes between various biological processes. Surfactants, EDCs and personal care products (PCPs) may be well reduced using activated sludge processes. Pesticides and pharmaceuticals manifested convenient reduction performances by biological activated carbon. Microalgae treatment techniques may diminish nearly all sorts of ECs to a certain degree. Additional biological methods were observed less efficient in dealing with ECs. Chemical oxidation techniques (like ozonation/H2O2, UV photolysis/H2O2, and photo- Fenton) may greatly eliminate up to 100% of pesticides, beta-blockers, and pharmaceuticals; at the same time, EDCs may be better reduced via ozonation and UV photocatalysis. Fenton method was observed less efficient in treating any sorts of ECs. A merged setup founded on ozonation pursued by biological activated carbon was manifested hugely efficacious in eliminating pesticides, beta-blockers, and pharmaceuticals. An integrated ozonation-ultrasound device may eliminate until 100% of numerous pharmaceuticals. Next research orientations to boost the elimination of ECs have been suggested.”
The range
“Emerging contaminants (ECs) are mainly synthetic organic chemicals that have been lately found in natural mediums. … ECs are a huge and comparatively novel group of unregulated complexes [6] and may easily induce harmful influences in aquatic and human life at naturally pertinent levels, which are beginning an increasing worry … They are the components predominately found in urban sewage, daily household products, pharmaceutical production facilities, wastewater, hospitals, landfills, and natural aquatic mediums … ECs levels may extend from a few ng/L to a few hundred μg/L … Such levels in the aquatic medium may produce ecological hazards like interference with the endocrine system of high organisms, microbiological resistance, and accumulation in soil, plants, and animals [13], because such ECs are not totally eliminated throughout traditional wastewater treatment techniques … ECs comprise mainly pharmaceutical organic pollutants, personal care products (PCPs), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), surfactants, pesticides, flame-retardants, and industrial additives among others.”