Current progress in treatment techniques of triclosan from wastewater: A review

Triclosan (TCS) has been frequently detected in water environment, causing potential threats to the aquatic ecosystem and human health. Although TCS contamination has attracted increasing attentions, its prevention and treatment are still crucial projects for safeguarding the environment. This review covers the most recent studies towards the latest development of treatment techniques of TCS from wastewater. Various techniques for TCS removal were introduced, evaluated and compared, including oxidation (e.g., chlorination, ozonation, Fenton processes, photolysis/photocatalysis, and electrochemical oxidation), reduction-oxidation, biodegradation, adsorption, and combined processes. The oxidation techniques are always efficient for TCS removal, but some disadvantages of them still exist, such as formation of halogenated species (chlorination), relatively low mineralization degree (ozonation), and relatively high energy consumption (electrochemical oxidation). TCS biodegradation needs pre-treatment steps to degrade the toxic pollutants into less toxic by-products. Adsorption has satisfactory TCS removal efficiencies (˃80%), but the solid residue needs further treatment/disposal upon the end of service life. The combined processes seem to be the most promising technique for TCS removal in wastewater owing to their potential to overcome several intrinsic limitations of each single process. This review provides insight into the control of TCS and other organic pollutants in wastewater.