Current progress in treatment technologies for plastic waste (bisphenol A) in aquatic environment: Occurrence, toxicity and remediation mechanisms

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a type of Endocrine Disrupting Compound (EDC) that is being widely used in the production of polycarbonate and epoxy resins. Last few years, the human exposure to BPA has been extensively high due to continuous increment in Annual Growth Rate (AGR) of BPA global market. The presence and transportation of BPA in the environment could cause serious damage to the aquatic life and human health. In this paper, we have reviewed the literature on the exposure and toxicity mechanism of BPA and advanced analytical techniques for detection of BPA in environment and human beings. The study indicated that BPA can cause damaging effects on numerous tissues and organs, including reproductive system, metabolic dysfunction, respiratory system, immune system and central nervous system. On the basis of reported studies on animal indicates that the exposure of BPA can be the carcinogenic and responsible for causing a variety of cancers like ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, prostate cancer, testicular cancer and liver cancer. This review paper mainly focused on current progress in BPA removal technologies in last ten years (2012–2022). This paper presenting the comprehensive overview of individual removal technology including-adsorption, photocatalysis/photodegradation, ozonation/advance oxidation, photo-fenton, membrane/nanofilters, and biodegradation along with removal mechanism. The extensive literature study shows that each technology has its own removal mechanism and limitation in BPA treatment. In adsorption and membrane separation process, most of BPA has been treated by electrostatic interaction, hydrogen boning and π-π interations mechanism. Whereas in degradation mechanism, O* and OH* species has been played major role in BPA removal. Some factors could be altered the removal potential and efficiency of BPA removal. This review paper will provide a useful guide in providing directions for future investigation to address the problem of BPA-containing wastewater treatment.