ABSTRACT
The presence of organic pollutants (OPs) in the environment is a topic of major concern. There are several thousand compounds that can be categorized as OPs, and the list is constantly being expanded. OPs have a wide variety of uses and origins (urban, industrial, agricultural), but the most relevant compounds are those synthesized at industrial scale. The impact of some biogenic pollutants, e. g. hormones, is also important. The problem of diffuse pollution caused by industrial, agricultural and human activities has resulted in directives to control the sources of pollution, to contribute to the protection of the environment, and to guarantee the utilization of natural resources. It has long been known that OPs accumulate in the natural environment and in living organisms causing damage to health. As a result, the use of many of these chemicals is now prohibited or, if permitted, environmental quality standards (EQS) have been established [1-3]. In the last decades, important advances to control and to treat conventional organic contaminants generated in human and industrial activities have been achieved. However, new toxic substances called emergent contaminants (ECs), which were not initially recognized as a threat, are frequently detected in the environment. The term EC is somewhat ambiguous, since these contaminants are not necessarily new substances. ECs encompass a diverse group of compounds, including algal and cyanobacterial toxins, brominated and organophosphate flame retardants, plasticizers, hormones and other endocrine disrupters compounds (EDCs), pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (PPCPs), drugs of abuse and their metabolites, disinfection by-products (DBPs), organometallics, nanomaterials, polar pesticides and their degradation/transformation products, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and surfactants and their metabolites [4].
