Ecological Footprints of Acetaminophen: Environmental Fate, Ecotoxicological Impacts, Detection Approaches, and Sustainable Remediation Strategies

Acetaminophen (common name-paracetamol) is one of the most widely used analgesics and antipyretics used throughout the world. It's been frequently discovered in aquatic systems as it has been continuously added to the environment, not totally eliminated in wastewater treatment, and then dumped by pharmaceutical producing organizations. Emerging pharmaceutical contaminants, such as acetaminophen and transformation products can pose ecological risks at low concentrations. In this review, the sources, occurrence, fate and transformations, toxic effects, analytical detection methods and advanced remediation technologies of acetaminophen contamination in the environment are discussed. The conventional biological treatment, advanced oxidation processes, adsorption, nanotechnology-based methods and biological degradation methods are fully explored. Future prospective for the sustainable, cost-effective and scalable treatment technology is also emphasized.