Identifying wastewater pollutants from pharmaceutical residues and xenobiotic contaminants in Indian secondary cities

Emerging contaminants are becoming more prevalent in the environment. The consequences of emerging contaminants on the urban environment and living being's health are poorly understood by society. Pharmaceutical compound removal is not considered in designing a conventional sewage treatment facility. Instead, they were primarily concerned with organic and bacterial removal. Molecules containing xenobiotics whose physicochemical characteristics, such as small molecular size, water solubility, ionizability and volatility, make it challenging to identify, quantify, and degrade these complex chemicals. In the present study, we will take samples from Surface Water (SW) and Wastewater Treatment Plants (WTP) in the fast-growing Indian secondary cities (Bhopal, Bhuj and Kozhikode). We use analytical methods, including High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Chromatography (GC) coupled with Mass Spectrometry (MS) to identify these compounds. The mentioned techniques have the potential to characterise complex environmental chemicals at low concentrations. In addition, Wetlands Construction can be an alternative and affordable technology for emerging compound treatment that performs satisfactorily for a variety of sewage types, including domestic sewage and wastewater. Our study identifies the contaminants present in the environment and the most popular analytical techniques for identifying and quantifying these compounds. We also present some potential solutions for the treatment of compounds by fusing several other technologies. This shows that in order to lessen or stop the deposition of these compounds into the environment, sewage treatment technologies need to be investigated and combined.