ABSTRACT Contamination of water bodies by effluents discharged from industries, agricultural run offs and municipal sewage contain dyes, heavy metals, pesticides and pharmaceutical products causes ecosystem damage, human health risks, and economical losses. Therefore, removal of these pollutants from water bodies is necessary for saving the lives of millions of species. Numerous chitosan derivatives have been produced via physical and chemical modifications of raw chitosan, such as grafting, impregnation, and cross‐linking the chitosan backbone and by formation of nanocomposites of chitosan. Due to its auspicious properties like, economical, biocompatibility, biodegradability and viability, chitosan is validated as relevant polysaccharide for wastewater treatment and healthcare. This review covers the advancements made in derivatives of chitosan during last five years in order to achieve best efficiency of chitosan as an adsorbent followed by challenges faced and future scope in removal of heavy metals, dyes, pharmaceutical products and pesticides waste from water.
Kaur et al. (2026) studied this question.