Description
Pharmaceutically active substances are a class of new, so-called emerging contaminants that have raised great concern in recent years. Human and veterinary drugs are continuously being released into the environment mainly as a result of the manufacturing processes, the disposal of unused or expired products, and via excreta. The amount of pharmaceuticals and their bioactive metabolites in the environment is low; however their continuous environmental input may lead to high long-term concentrations and promote adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The analytical methodology for the determination of trace pharmaceuticals in complex environmental matrices is still evolving, and the number of methods described in the literature has grown considerably. The main objectives of this book are to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of analytical methods for trace determination of pharmaceuticals in environmental samples and to review the fate and occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle for their elimination in wastewater and drinking water treatment, with particular attention to the newest developments in treatment technologies such as membrane bioreactors and advanced oxidation processes. Pharmaceutically active substances are a class of new, so-called emerging contaminants that have raised great concern in recent years. Human and veterinary drugs are continuously being released into the environment mainly as a result of the manufacturing processes, the disposal of unused or expired products, and via excreta. The amount of pharmaceuticals and their bioactive metabolites in the environment is low; however their continuous environmental input may lead to high long-term concentrations and promote adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The analytical methodology for the determination of trace pharmaceuticals in complex environmental matrices is still evolving, and the number of methods described in the literature has grown considerably. The main objectives of this book are to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of analytical methods for trace determination of pharmaceuticals in environmental samples and to review the fate and occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle for their elimination in wastewater and drinking water treatment, with particular attention to the newest developments in treatment technologies such as membrane bioreactors and advanced oxidation processes.
