Fate of micropollutants

Abstract

Micropollutants (MPs) are biological or chemical compounds resulting from human activities that make their way into water bodies in trace quantities. They cause adverse effects on aquatic environments and their complexity and costly quantification makes them difficult to monitor and, consequently, the implementation of legislation for controlling their disposal. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to describe occurrence, environmental and health impacts, and current regulatory frameworks of MPs. The fate and removal of these contaminants in anaerobic reactors treating domestic wastewater is discussed and strategies for enhancing MP removal are presented. Studies on MP removal in anaerobic systems are still emerging and a great deal of work should be carried out to evaluate whether conventional anaerobic reactors applied to domestic wastewater treatment under usual operating conditions are able to effectively remove contaminants of emerging concern. Transferring the mechanistic understanding of the anaerobic biotransformation of MPs to feasible changes to be implemented in mainstream anaerobic domestic wastewater treatment remains a major challenge. Moreover, the study of new operating strategies and reactor configurations seems to be mandatory to comply with the requirements of removing organic matter, nutrients, and MPs, as well as generating energy (biogas), thus resulting in robust, safe, and sustainable units. © 2024 IWAP. All rights reserved.