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Removal of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in Aquatic Plant-Based Systems

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Book cover Electrokinetics Across Disciplines and Continents

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Abstract

The use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is growing as they are used not only for treatment but also for prevention of illnesses. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) many PPCPs are not completely degraded/removed, which contributes for their frequent detection in, e.g. salt marsh areas. These areas may be considered a sink, source and cycling centre of contaminants on the receiving water body flow rate. In this chapter, a study about the potential of salt marsh plants Halimione portulacoides and/or Spartina maritima for the removal of three PPCPs, caffeine (CAFF), oxybenzone (HMB) and triclosan (TCS), is summarized. Experiments, at microcosms level, had two main aims: (1) the simulation of natural estuarine environment and study of dispersion mechanisms and “natural” remediation potential of target PPCPs and (2) the optimization of biological treatment technologies in WWTPs by simulating constructed wetland composed by plants and light expanded clay aggregates (LECA). Results indicate that either in estuaries or in WWTP the presence of a physical support can help to decrease contaminant levels mainly through sorption processes. The tested salt marsh species also showed potential to directly or indirectly promote the remediation of contaminants. In any case the remediation potential and dispersion mechanism are highly dependent from the characteristics of contaminants, like octanol–water partition coefficient (Log K ow) and solubility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CENSE, Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, Caparica, 2829-516, Portugal

    Ana R. Ferreira, Nazaré Couto, Paula R. Guedes, Eduardo P. Mateus & Alexandra B. Ribeiro

  2. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Nazaré Couto & Paula R. Guedes

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  1. Ana R. Ferreira
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  2. Nazaré Couto
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  3. Paula R. Guedes
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  4. Eduardo P. Mateus
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  5. Alexandra B. Ribeiro
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Correspondence to Ana R. Ferreira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Alexandra B. Ribeiro

  2. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Eduardo P. Mateus

  3. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Nazaré Couto

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Ferreira, A.R., Couto, N., Guedes, P.R., Mateus, E.P., Ribeiro, A.B. (2016). Removal of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in Aquatic Plant-Based Systems. In: Ribeiro, A., Mateus, E., Couto, N. (eds) Electrokinetics Across Disciplines and Continents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20179-5_18

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