Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the aquatic environment: Biotoxicity, determination and electrochemical treatment

Various detection, analysis and remediation methods have been reported for pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater. In this review, the biotoxicity of PPCPs were briefly introduced. Because of PPCPs’ hazardous to the environment, the enrichment and extraction methods (e.g., solid phase extraction, soxhlet extraction, supercrtical fluid extraction, and microwave assisted extraction) for PPCPs were systematically described. PPCPs analysis technologies (e.g., liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, capillary electrophoresis, and sensors) were summarized. The removal performances and mechanisms of PPCPs through different electrochemical treatment approaches (e.g., electro-Fenton, photoelectrocatalytic degradation, and electrochemical membrane bioreactor) were critically analyzed and discussed. Finally, the concluding remarks and suggestions for future researches concerning the topic of PPCPs detection, analysis, and electrochemical treatments were proposed. This work could provide an overview for the detection/analysis techniques and electrochemical treatments of PPCPs from wastewater.