Technological Potential of Microalgae for Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Product’s from Waste Water

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have emerged as significant environmental contaminants due to their persistent nature and incomplete removal by conventional wastewater treatment systems. These micropollutants, which include antibiotics, hormones, analgesics, and personal care additives, pose ecological and health risks even at trace concentrations. Traditional treatment technologies such as activated sludge and membrane filtration often fail to fully eliminate PPCPs, necessitating innovative and sustainable alternatives. Microalgae have demonstrated promising capabilities for PPCP removal through mechanisms such as bioadsorption, bioaccumulation, and enzymatic degradation. Their ability to thrive under diverse environmental conditions, sequester carbon dioxide, and produce value-added biomass further enhances their appeal as an eco-friendly solution. This review explores the occurrence and impacts of PPCPs in industrial effluents, elucidates the biological mechanisms by which microalgae facilitate contaminant removal, and evaluates key technological and operational parameters affecting their performance. It also discusses current cultivation systems, integration strategies with existing infrastructure, economic and scalability challenges, and future directions involving genetic engineering and biorefinery integration. Microalgae-based systems, with proper optimization, offer a transformative approach for sustainable wastewater treatment and environmental remediation, by simultaneously removing nutrients and pollutants, producing valuable biomass, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in an energy-efficient and eco-friendly manner. See Graphical abstract.