Illegal drugs are becoming an increasing environmental problem. They have detrimental effects on an individual's health, but because they are also excreting from the body, their concentration in municipal wastewater have been increasing. The concentrations of illegal drugs can be determined, and consequently the level of consumption for the population can be calculated. The danger of large quantities of illegal drugs in wastewater effluent is primarily their unknown impact on the environment, but they can also contaminate drinking water catchments and thus endanger the population. The most effective processes for the removal of illegal drugs are biological processes, especially processes with activated sludge, which in combination with advanced oxidation processes degrade most of illegal drugs.
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