# Nanomaterials for the Abatement of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products from Wastewater
## 2 Source, Fate and Effects of Selected PPCs  
The following PPCPs, which are recognized to be dangerous or considered possibly dangerous to humans, animals and the environment will be considered here: antibiotics; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; anti-hypertensives; anti-depressants; hormones and endocrine disruptive compounds. Antibiotics (ABs) found in the environment have an anthropogenic origin: they are usually related to either human therapeutic usage (entering the environment through municipal wastewater) or intensive animal agriculture usage [4]. So far, ABs are recognized to have potential effects on both human health and the environment. The use in animal agriculture is indeed the major source of ABs, since they are used not only for therapeutic purposes, but also for prevention and sub-therapeutic use to improve feed efficiency and weight gain of the animals. Most of the ABs (ca. 90%) is indeed excreted back to the environment by animals in a partially metabolized form, which depends on the parent AB. Some of the ABs, like sulfonamides, are stable to degradation, in both biotic and abiotic conditions, and are found in surface waters; sediments; municipal wastewaters; animal waste lagoons and underlying groundwater. Some of the ABs used for animals are similar to those used for humans like, for instance, tylosin, an AB used as a feed additive in animal agriculture, which has a human equivalent in erythromycincin (Figure 2). The issue concerning these two molecules is that if microbes become resistant to tylosin, they could be resistant to erythromycincin as well. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l} \hline \hline
**Main Categories** & **Families** & **Examples** \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{\begin{tabular}{} \end{tabular} } & antibiotics/antibacterials & amoxicillin, metronidazolezole, ofloxacin \\ \cline{2-3}  & steroids & estrone, 17\(\beta\)-estradiol, testosterone \\ \cline{2-3}  & \(\beta\)-blocker & propranolol, salbutamol, atenol \\ \cline{2-3}  & nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) & aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen \\ \cline{2-3}  & antiepileptic/anticonvulsants & gabapentin, carbamazepine \\ \cline{2-3}  & antidepressant/hypnotic & diaazepam, venlafaxine, amitriptyline, dosulepin, merobionate \\ \cline{2-3}  & analgesic & morphine, propoxyphene, paracetamol \\ \cline{2-3}  & hypertension & valsartan \\ \cline{2-3}  & lipid regulation & bezafibrate, simvastatin, clofibric acid \\ \cline{2-3}  & erectile dysfunction & sildenafil \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{\begin{tabular}{} \end{tabular} } & hallucinogen & 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), \\  & hallucinogen & 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDEA), \\  & & 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) \\ \cline{2-3}  & stimulant & amphetamine, cocaine, benzylpiperazine \\ \cline{2-3}  & human indicator & caffeine, nicotine \\ \hline \multirow{7}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{} \end{tabular} } & preservative & methylparaben, propylparaben \\ \cline{2-3}  & sunscreen agent & 1-benzophenone, homosalate \\ \cline{2-3}  & disinfectants/antiseptic & chloramines, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, \\ \cline{2-3}  & fragances & musk xylol, tonalide \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{} \end{tabular} } & organohalogenated compounds & Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), lindane, \\ \cline{2-3}  & uricolozolin, clopyralid \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-3}  & nitrogen containing & simazine, phenylurea \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and emerging contaminants (ECs) commonly detected in water bodies. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, Table 1) are highly consumed drugs with analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects: they are found in WWTPs (in concentrations up to \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro g}\) L\({}^{-1}\)) and in surface waters (in concentrations of \(\mathrm{ng}\) L\({}^{-1}\)). Some of them, like aspirin, naproxen, ibuprofen, etc. are also reported in drinking water [20].