International Journal of Chemical and Biochemical Sciences (ISSN 2226-9614)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
VOLUME 29(23) (2026)
Pharmaceuticals in Wastewater and Their Growing Concerns for Health: A review
Mahnoor Chawla1, Mohamad Fawzi Mahomoodally2,3*
1Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
2Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacen), Northwest University,
Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
3Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Reduit, University of Mauritius, Mauritius.
Abstract
Water pollution with substances, such as pharmaceutical residues, is also cited as a significant environmental threat that can endanger the well-being of aquatic organisms and human beings seriously. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the industries that engages in washing and production, which significantly contaminates water. The other sources occur in the forms of medicine manufacturing plants, municipal wastewater by leaching landfill, and hospital waste, which lead to the introduction of various pharmaceuticals to the water bodies. Most of these chemicals are poisonous, cancer-inducing, and bio-accumulative in small doses, leading to serious diseases. The elimination of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater point sources is compulsory in the remediation of the environment since they are hazardous, non-degradable, and everlasting. A few studies have been conducted on how to devise various mechanisms of managing pharmaceutical pollution in wastewater. AOPs are also observed to be efficient and more sophisticated methods for the deterioration of such contaminants. This review provides a discussion on sources of pharmaceutical pollution, water-related issues, and their changes, and their effect on health. It gives the need to conduct additional research to accelerate the effectiveness of decaying and mineralization by creating cost and efficiency-effective green initiators and the advanced integrated systems. This review presents the efficiency of the substances in the removal of pharmaceuticals, coping with the difficulties, constraints, and opportunities, suggesting the emphasis on the environmentally friendly methods and their effective application.
Keywords: Pharmaceutical Contaminants, Wastewater treatment technologies, Health hazards, Advanced removal of pharmaceuticals, Hybrid treatments
Full length article *Corresponding Author, e-mail: mohamadfawzimahomoodally@duytan.edu.vn, Doi # https://doi.org/10.62877/13-IJCBS-26-29-23-13
Submitted: 27-01-2026; Accepted: 28-03-2026; Published: 11-04-2026