A review of organic UV-filters in wastewater treatment plants

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Sara Ramos (Author) FEUP; Vera Homem (Author) FEUP; Arminda Alves (Author) FEUP; Lúcia Santos (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Environment International

Vol. 86

Pages: 24-44

ISSN: 0160-4120

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 53 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 121 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology

Associated Projects

LEPAE/CEFT - RL2 - (Bio) Chemical Engineering: Multi-Scale Approaches for Sustainable Environment and Health

LEPABE - Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente, Biotecnologia e Energia

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00G-SD6

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.004

Abstract (EN): UV-filters are a group of compounds which have been massively used in the past years due to the recent concerns with sunburns, premature skin ageing and the risk of developing skin cancer, related to sun exposure. At the moment, these compounds have been identified by the scientific community as emerging pollutants, due to their persistence in the environment, potential to accumulate in biota and potential threat as endocrine disruptors. At some point, the majority of sunscreens will find their way into wastewater (due to bathing and washing activities) and because wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not able to remove and/or degrade them, consequently they find their way into rivers, lakes and ocean, so it is not surprising that UV-filters are found in the environment. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants should be the focus of the scientific community aiming to better understand the fate of the UV-filters and develop new technologies to remove them from wastewater and sludge. This review, aims to provide the current state of the art in the occurrence and fate of UV-filters in wastewater treatment plants and how the technologies that are being used are successfully removing these compounds from both wastewater and sludge.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 21