Fluoroquinolones: Fate, effects on the environment and selected removal methods

Water pollution caused by antibiotics is perceived with deep concern nowadays. It can be hardly removed by traditional wastewater treatment plants. Fluoroquinolones (FQs), a kind of antibiotics, have been considered emerging contaminants that have brought severe threats to biota and human health. The role of removal technique becomes more important with the increase in the concentration of these contaminants in water streams. Therefore, research into the use of advanced approaches for the removal of FQs is a challenge to the scientific community. Although advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been studied enormously, the reaction mechanisms and conditions as well as parameters affecting the removal process have not been deeply investigated. For example, pH, materials dosage, and contaminant concentration have a significant influence on the removal process of FQs. This review systematically summarizes and discusses the effects, fate, mechanisms, and influencing parameters in the degradation process of FQs of the most recent innovative methods including adsorption, electrochemical oxidation, Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by transitional metal-based composites, photocatalysis, and biological processes. Thus, this review also addresses the combination potentials of AOPs for the degradation of antibiotics in water matrices.