Challenges and Future Directions of Neglected Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater Treatment Plants
Haiya Zhang, Yingming Mu, Shilong Li, Yu Wang, Tao Ya, Chao Chen, Liang Duan
Abstract
RecommendationsE merging contaminants (ECs) pose great risks to human health, wildlife, and aquatic environments and have been regarded as a major global concern recently.Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are the final sinks of ECs before they enter their surroundings.To date, more than 200 individual ECs have been frequently identified in the influents and effluent of WWTPs, as well. 1 This finding reveals that some ECs could not be removed effectively through the existing wastewater treatment process with primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments.Figure 1 shows the distribution percentage of WWTPs and the ECs in them across states and typical countries.Moreover, many ECs have not been regulated for WWTP discharge due to the lack of toxicity data as well as their transformation information.Thus, unveiling the challenges of the prevailing regulations and technologies for ECs in WWTPs is a very urgent need.It is also very necessary to hasten global technological innovation and legislative strategies to minimize the hazards.