Toxicity and remediation of pharmaceuticals and pesticides using metal oxides and carbon nanomaterials

Zari Fallah (1) , Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare (2) , Matineh Ghomi (2) , Farhad Ahmadijokani (3) , Majed Amini (3) , Mahmood Tajbakhsh (1) , Mohammad Arjmand (3) , Gaurav Sharma (4, 5) , Hamna Ali (6) , Awais Ahmad (6) , Pooyan Makvandi (7) , Eric Lichtfouse (8, 9) , Mika Sillanpää (7, 10) , Rajender S Varma (11, 12)

1 UMZ - University of Mazandaran
2 Damghan University
3 UBC - University of British Columbia
4 Shenzhen University
5 Shoolini University
6 University of Lahore
7 DTU - Duy Tan University
8 Xjtu - Xi'an Jiaotong University
9 CEREGE - Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement
10 UJ - University of Johannesburg [South Africa]
11 Palacky University Olomouc
12 United States Environmental Protection Agency [Cincinnati]

The worldwide development of agriculture and industry has resulted in contamination of water bodies by pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other xenobiotics. Even at trace levels of few micrograms per liter in waters, these contaminants induce public health and environmental issues, thus calling for efficient removal methods such as adsorption. Recent adsorption techniques for wastewater treatment involve metal oxide compounds, e.g. Fe2O3, ZnO, Al2O3 and ZnOeMgO, and carbon-based materials such as graphene oxide, activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, and carbon/graphene quantum dots. Here, the small size of metal oxides and the presence various functional groups has allowed higher adsorption efficiencies. Moreover, carbon-based adsorbents exhibit unique properties such as high surface area, high porosity, easy functionalization, low price, and high surface reactivity. Here we review the cytotoxic effects of pharmaceutical drugs and pesticides in terms of human risk and ecotoxicology. We also present remediation techniques involving adsorption on metal oxides and carbon-based materials.

Mots clés: Human risk; Pharmaceutical; Pesticides; Metal oxides; Carbon nanostructures

Domaines: Ingénierie de l'environnement; Autre; Matériaux

Zari Fallah, Ehsan Nazarzadeh Zare, Matineh Ghomi, Farhad Ahmadijokani, Majed Amini, et al.. Toxicity and remediation of pharmaceuticals and pesticides using metal oxides and carbon nanomaterials. Chemosphere, 2021, 275, pp.1-37. ⟨10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130055⟩. ⟨hal-03170433⟩