Effects of typical emerging pollutants on biological treatment systems: processes, mechanisms, and recovery strategies

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of industrialization and urbanization, human activities have released large quantities of persistent emerging contaminants into the environment. Among these, nanomaterials, microplastics, and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances have emerged as research hotspots due to their widespread applications and increasingly significant environmental risks. These contaminants exhibit strong environmental persistence in aquatic environments and significantly affect the stability and treatment efficiency of conventional biological treatment systems, posing new challenges to the normal operation and pollutant removal. This article reviews the migration and transformation behavior of these emerging contaminants in biological treatment systems, the processes and mechanisms underlying their impacts on microbial communities and metabolic activities, as well as recovery strategies. By summarizing existing research results, this article aims to provide a scientific basis and technical support for the process optimization and the development of pollutant reduction technologies in wastewater treatment systems.