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Pharmaceutical residues in aquatic environment and water remediation by TiO2 heterogeneous photocatalysis: a review

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Abstract

The occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in the natural water sources has been reported as early as in the year 1980. Until now, the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in the aquatic environment has been frequently reported in the literature. Moreover, increasing evidence suggests that these contaminants have posed a threat to both humans and ecosystems. In this regard, the present review paper seeks to offer an overview of this environmental issue of pharmaceutical pollution where the subject matters to be reviewed include the effects, sources and mitigation strategies of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Besides, a review of the fundamentals and mechanisms of heterogeneous photocatalysis technology is also presented in this paper. Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a rapidly expanding technology which has been extensively investigated and applied in wastewater treatment for the remediation of persistent pollutants such as pharmaceutical compounds during the last decade. Furthermore, the ideal photocatalyst titanium dioxide (TiO2), which can collaborate and perform well in the photocatalysis treatment process, is also discussed. The advantages and limitations associated with the application of this treatment method are summarized and discussed in details. Finally, this review paper focuses on the future trend of the photocatalysis technology and identifies the barriers and lacking parts which need to be resolved in the near future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for funding this project under grant Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS); Grant number: 203/PAWAM/6071256 as well as the support of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for providing the Intensif Grant and USM Fellowship.

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  1. School of Civil Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

    Chee Mei Lee & Puganeshwary Palaniandy

  2. School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

    Irvan Dahlan

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  1. Chee Mei Lee
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Correspondence to Puganeshwary Palaniandy.

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Lee, C.M., Palaniandy, P. & Dahlan, I. Pharmaceutical residues in aquatic environment and water remediation by TiO2 heterogeneous photocatalysis: a review. Environ Earth Sci 76, 611 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6924-y

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