Advancements in the dominion of fate and transport of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products  in the environment- A Bibliometric study

Abstract

The study on Fate and Transport of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products, PPCPs (FTP) in the environment has received special attention for more than two decades pertaining to a threat to ecology and human health even at low concentrations due to their synergistic effects and long-range transport. The research aims to provide an inclusive map of the scientific background of FTP research over the last 25 years, from 1996 to 2020 to identify the main characteristics, evolution, salient research themes, trends, and valuable directions for future studies. Bibliometric networks were synthesized and analyzed for a total of 577 journal articles extracted from the Scopus database. Consequently, seven major themes of FTP research were identified as follows: (i) PPCPs Category; (ii) Hazardous Effects; (iii) Occurrence of PPCPs; (iv) PPCPs in Organisms; (v) Remediation; (vi) Fate and Transport Governing Processes and (vii)Assessment in the Environment. The themes gave an in-depth picture of the sources of PPCPs and their transport and fate processes in the environment which originated majorly from STP and sediment/soils/groundwater/oceans acting as its major sink. The article provided a rigorous review of the research landscape in the FTP study conducted during the specified years and its prominent highlight pattern may serve basis of real-time guidance to lead future research areas and a tool for policymakers and practitioners to handle the ever-increasing concentration of Emerging Contaminants (ECs) in the environment.