Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products: From Wastewater Treatment into Agro-Food Systems

Abstract

Irrigation with treated wastewater (TWW) and application of biosolids introduce numerous pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) into agro-food systems. While the use of TWW and biosolids has many societal benefits, introduction of PPCPs in production agriculture poses potential food safety and human health risks. A comprehensive risk assessment and management scheme of PPCPs in agro-food systems is limited by multiple factors, not least the sheer number of investigated compounds and their diverse structures. Here we follow the fate of PPCPs in the water-soil-produce continuum by considering processes and variables that influence PPCP transfer and accumulation. By analyzing the steps in the soil-plant-human diet nexus, we propose a tiered framework as a path forward to prioritize PPCPs that could have a high potential for plant accumulation and thus pose greatest risk. This article examines research progress to date and current research challenges, highlighting the potential value of leveraging existing knowledge from decades of research on other chemicals such as pesticides. A process-driven scheme is outlined to derive a short list that may be used to refocus our future research efforts on PPCPs and other analogous emerging contaminants in agro-food systems.

Pharmaceutical Pollution and Disposal of Expired, Unused, and Unwanted Medicines in the Brazilian Context

“…In agreement with these issues, the European Commission has, among its directives, established strategies to control effluents from the pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities and industries [18]. Nowadays, an increasing number of studies regarding the investigation on the occurrence of APIs in the environments, particularly in water bodies, with the studies mentioned above, give a glimpse about the recognized emerging presence of APIs/PPCPs in wastes, soil, sewages, coastal seawater, pounds, rivers, groundwater, and even aquifers and drinking water, in urban areas and remote localities in the planet [19][20][21].…”

Horizontal Flow Constructed Wetland for Greywater Treatment and Reuse: An Experimental Case

“…In addition to reducing water consumption, a possible solution can be the reuse of treated wastewater (WW) produced by human activities [15][16][17]. The WW presents a very large number of contaminants such as dyes, surfactants, heavy metals, drugs, personal care products and bacteria [18][19][20][21][22][23]. To date, there are numerous treatments to remove the contaminants present in the WW, but there is still little attention to the possible reuse of treated water.…”

National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) Agriculture Sector Technology Roadmap 2021

“…53 However, these limits are often not stringent enough for the direct reuse of wastewater for agricultural operations. 54,55,56,57,58 Despite the consistent reuse TMWW for irrigation in some arid regions, there are risks associated with the above-mentioned CECs and their persistence in WWTP effluent 59 because uptake of organic compounds from this effluent has been demonstrated in a wide variety of crops. 60,61,62,63 In some cases, plant accumulation of CECs is associated with human consumption and excretion of these compounds 64 and can reach concentrations in the edible parts that could be a potential health risk for vulnerable groups such as children.…”

“…However, in an agricultural setting, the toxicity of this water can also impact soil quality (both soil chemistry and microbiome) and plant health, including plant uptake and the accumulation of toxic constituents. 147,148,149,150 For example, research has shown that irrigating crops with diluted produced water (a proposed source for agricultural reuse) can result in lower crop yields, reduce soil microbial diversity, and make plants more susceptible to pathogens by suppressing the plant's immune system. 151,152 Comparable research has also shown similar effects in crops irrigated with treated municipal wastewater 153,154,155,156 (another proposed wastewater source).…”