Review Anaerobic treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater: A critical review

Pharmaceutical wastewater is usually produced by chemical synthesis method, so it contains high levels of organic pollutants, biotoxicity and salt. Since anaerobic technologies have the advantage of withstanding high organic loads, reducing sludge production, and reducing operating costs compared to conventional activated sludge methods, anaerobic technologies are viable technologies to process pharmaceutical wastewater It is an option. This paper reviews contaminant emission reduction performance of several modern anaerobic or hybrid systems and operating conditions for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. At the same time, we summarized the main microorganism groups typical of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment by anaerobic process. In addition, we assessed the environmental impact of antibiotic residues and the health risks of antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) infection and gained insight into the attention to the treated pharmaceutical wastewater effluent.

The literature on pharmaceutical wastewater treatment during the 1990 - 2015 period was reviewed to develop a sustainable treatment strategy. Existing methods for treatment and disposal of pharmaceutical waste were analyzed to classify treatment methods for a wide range of specific identified groups. This review clarified the advantages and disadvantages associated with the traditional approach and the new approach, and the problems to overcome the shortcomings. Given the diversity of pollutants and the low success rate of the prior art it has been found that classical techniques can not completely solve the harm caused by the discharge of drug waste. On the other hand, some of the latest technologies such as membrane integrated hybrid technology are more successful than conventional technologies.

Pharmaceutical wastewater is usually produced by chemical synthesis method, so it contains high levels of organic pollutants, biotoxicity and salt. Since anaerobic technologies have the advantage of withstanding high organic loads, reducing sludge production, and reducing operating costs compared to conventional activated sludge methods, anaerobic technologies are viable technologies to process pharmaceutical wastewater It is an option. This paper reviews contaminant emission reduction performance of several modern anaerobic or hybrid systems and operating conditions for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. At the same time, we summarized the main microorganism groups typical of pharmaceutical wastewater treatment by anaerobic process. In addition, we assessed the environmental impact of antibiotic residues and the health risks of antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) infection and gained insight into the attention to the treated pharmaceutical wastewater effluent.