Occurrence and Removal of Pharmaceutical Contaminants in Urine: A Review

With the development of world economies and continuous improvement living standards, pharmaceutical personal care products (PPCPs) have attracted significant attention because their widespread detection in wastewater natural environment. Their biological toxicity, environmental persistence, other hazardous characteristics might pose a threat to ecological environment human health. How treat source-separated urine as valuable recyclable resource has become novel challenge. In this review, we briefly described sources pharmaceuticals, explored various metabolic pathways concluded that urinary excretion is primary pathway pharmaceuticals. Next, current status contamination urine, sewage plants, surface water was summarized. It shown concentration pharmaceuticals usually 2–3 orders magnitude higher than plants water. Then, research progress technologies contaminants analyzed compared, indicating promise advanced oxidation such wastewater, among which electrochemical received due its advantages cleanness, flexibility, controllability. Therefore, electrode materials technology reviewed, finally, future direction proposed, namely, coupling membrane treatment with intellectual development, will help realize scale industrialization treatment.