Pharmaceuticals,endocrine disruptors,personal care products,nanomaterials and perfluorinated pollutants: a review

The presence of emerging micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, personal care products, nanomaterials and perfluorinated substances in the environment remains a great threat to the health and safety of humans and aquatic species. These micropollutants enter the environment via anthropogenic activities and have been detected in surface water, groundwater and even drinking water at nanogram per litre to microgram per litre concentration. To date, limited information exists on the fate, behaviours, and pathways of these micropollutants in the environment. The potential ecotoxicological effects on the receptors due to exposure to individual or mixture of these chemicals still remain unknown. This review provides an overview on pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, personal care products, nanomaterials and perfluorinated pollutants, with emphasis on their occurrences, effects, environmental fates, and potential risk of exposure in water, soil or sediment. Based on the literature survey, it was found that in spite of an extensive research and different developmental efforts on the challenges of emerging micropollutants, the solution to the problem of emerging micropollutants in the environment is far from being solved. The needs for behavioural change among citizens, strong political will and policy formulation on the part of government are identified as possible panacea for combating the growing influence of these potential damaging substances. Suggestions on proactive and precautionary measures that must be taken to protect the environment as well as guarantee the health and safety of humans and aquatic species are provided. Future research should concentrate on the development of a risk based screening models and framework that can predict the sources, fate and behaviours of emerging contaminants in the environment is recommended.     

Sublethal and environmentally relevant concentrations of triclosan and triclocarban induce histological,genotoxic, and embryotoxic effects in Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Antimicrobial additives in personal care products (PCPs) such as triclosan (TCS) and triclocarban (TCC) are of environmental concern due to their...     

Erosion studies in a Nigerian city: A methodological approach

This work assessed the methods of erosion on different surfaces in Ilorin City, Nigeria. The data were sourced from direct fieldwork exercises utilising erosion pins and sediment traps. These were analysed using the Z-score additive model. It was observed that erosion problems are better studied on site utilising sediment traps, which were more efficient than the erosion pins.     

Prospects in the bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants from hypersaline environments: A review

Hypersaline environments are underappreciated and are frequently exposed to pollution from petroleum hydrocarbons. Unlike other environs, the high salinity conditions present are a deterrent to various remediation techniques. There is also production of hypersaline waters from oil-polluted ecosystems which contain toxic hydrophobic pollutants that are threat to public health, environmental protection, and sustainability. Currently, innovative advances are being proposed for the remediation of oil-contaminated hypersaline regions. Such advancements include the exploration and stimulation of native microbial communities capable of utilizing and degrading petroleum hydrocarbons. However, prevailing salinity in these environments is unfavourable for the growth of non-halophylic microorganisms, thus limiting effective bioremediation options. An in-depth understanding of the potentials of various remediation technologies of hydrocarbon-polluted hypersaline environments is lacking. Thus, we present an overview of petroleum hydrocarbon pollution in hypersaline ecosystems and discuss the challenges and prospects associated with several technologies that may be employed in remediation of hydrocarbon pollution in the presence of delimiting high salinities. The application of biological remediation technologies including the utilization of halophilic and halotolerant microorganisms is also discussed.