Chapter 22: Recent Advances in the Application of Microalgae-based Bioremediation of Pharmaceutical Waste

Pharmaceuticals are therapeutic drugs used to treat or prevent human or animal diseases. The incomplete breakdown of these drugs in the body can lead to their release into the environment through excretion, where they may bioaccumulation, and their toxicity may have negative impacts on aquatic and terrestrial organisms, ecosystems and human health. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not designed to effectively remove specific pharmaceutical waste. Other technologies such as membrane filtration, activated carbon adsorption, and hybrid processes can more efficiently remove pharmaceutical wastes. However, they are expensive, and their large-scale applications are currently not economical or sustainable. Therefore, the search for sustainable and low-cost technologies has been accelerating. Microalgae have attracted attention as a means of removing pharmaceutical waste in water. In this chapter, we describe and discuss the use of various low-cost methods of cultivating and applying microalgae to treat pharmaceutical products in wastewater.