Occurrence, analysis, toxicity and treatment processes of pharmaceutically active compounds and hormones in water and wastewater: A review

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PACs) and hormones have been discovered in various wastewater, surface and ground waters, and are widely dispersed in the environment. Excretion, unrestrained drug disposal, discard of medicines and veterinary applications constitute the main pathways by which these organic pollutants reach the environment. In this study, recent research on the occurrence, analysis, toxicity and treatment processes of PACs and hormones in water and wastewater will be presented. PACs and hormones as low as in μg L⁻¹ to ng L⁻¹ levels are endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) that can cause potential risk to aquatic/terrestrial animals and humans. Therefore, to prevent the deleterious effects of PACs and hormones, the development of new and/or combined technologies for selective removal and determination of PACs and hormones in environmental matrices is of great importance.