Review: Pharmacological Pollution in Water

There has been an increasing awareness among environmental scientists in recent years of the presence and potential impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (“PPCPs”) in environmental compartments including surface water, groundwater, soil, bed sediment, and in tissue. This work highlights some of the research developments over approximately the last decade regarding pharmacological pollution in water including pollution characterization, analytical methods, removal via water and wastewater treatment plants, wastewater effluent and biosolids applied to agricultural land, environmental impacts, and methods to identify the most consequential PPCPs in terms of potential environmental impact. Nonregulatory and regulatory responses are also discussed.