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Advances in Organic Pollutant Degradation Technologies for Pharmaceutical Wastewater: Efficiency, Mechanistic Pathways, and Challenges in Application

Environment and Resource / 2025,7(1): 175-188 / 2025-10-17 14 3

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• Authors: Chenli Liu Guo Shi Junzhao Ma
• Information:

  Taiji Group Chongqing Fuling Pharmaceutical Factory Co., Ltd.Fuling District, Chongqing

• Keywords:
  Pharmaceutical wastewater; Organic pollutants; Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs); Biological treatment; Hybrid/coupled processes
• Abstract: Against the backdrop of carbon-peaking/carbon-neutrality goals and increasingly stringent discharge standards, this review synthesizes the water-quality characteristics (high salinity, high toxicity, low biodegradability, and compositional fluctuations) and environmental behaviors (persistence, bioaccumulation, and cross-media transport) of organic pollutants in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater. We elucidate the principal degradation mechanisms—oxidation/reduction, radical oxidation by •OH and SO₄•⁻, and microbial direct metabolism and cometabolism—and underscore the need to identify transformation intermediates and evaluate toxicity evolution. We then compare the applicability and engineering performance of physicochemical methods (adsorption, ozonation/Fenton, photocatalysis, electrochemical processes), biological processes (aerobic/anaerobic systems, MBR/MBBR, bioaugmentation), and hybrid coupled schemes (photo-Fenton, ozone–biological, electro–biological, AOPs+MBR). Physicochemical routes act rapidly but are limited by mineralization and cost; biological routes are economical yet constrained by microbial inhibition and long HRTs; coupled schemes balance biodegradability enhancement with deep mineralization—typical COD and TOC removals reaching ~85%~–95% and 80%~90%, respectively—with superior abatement of antibiotics and endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). Key bottlenecks include process instability under high-salinity/hightoxicity conditions, AOP-induced toxicity transfer and insufficient monitoring of intermediates, challenges in multi-unit coordination and intelligent control, and the constraints that energy and chemical consumption impose on low-carbon objectives. Looking forward, we advocate low-energy, resource-recoverable, and sustainable treatment pathways centered on smart catalytic and anti-fouling membrane materials, salt-/ salt-/toxicity-tolerant and synthetic-biology-enabled microbial consortia, online toxicity monitoring with non-target high-resolution analytics, and digital-twin-based adaptive control.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.35534/er.0701013
• Cite: Liu, C. L., Shi, G., Ma, J. Z. (2025). Advances in Organic Pollutant Degradation Technologies for Pharmaceutical Wastewater: Efficiency, Mechanistic Pathways, and Challenges in Application. Environment and Resource, 7(1), 175-188.