ABSTRACT
The continued exponential growth in human population has created a corresponding increase in the demand for the earth’s limited supply of freshwater. Safe guarding our water resources is one of the pressing issues of the present time (Chong et al., 2010; Köhler et al., 2012 ). In order to resolve the global water shortage issue, recycling or reusing of treated water from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has been promoted over the past decades (Grant et al., 2012). However, the treated water recycling or reusing program has recently seen a setback as a result of the occurrence of persistent organic contaminants. Therefore, the reuse or recycle programs of treated municipal or industrial wastewater have been significantly affected (Arnold et al., 2012; De la Cruz et al., 2012). Among these persistent organics, and emerging contaminants, residual pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment have been of a great concern over the past decade because they can pose long-term risks, which include potential toxicity to aquatic organisms and the disruption of endocrine systems of higher organisms (Andreozzi et al., 2004; De Witte, et al. 2011). Pharmaceuticals are highly used by humans and also as veterinary medicines to prevent diseases and to protect human or animal health. However, if unused pharmaceuticals are improperly disposed, they can be released to the environment, and can pose a threat to the environment. Even the pharmaceuticals administered to humans or animals can be released to the environment, since they are only partially absorbed by a body and a significantly portion is released to sewage and eventually to the environment.
