REVIEW article
Front. Environ. Chem.
Sec. Sorption Technologies
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvc.2025.1675784
This article is part of the Research TopicEmerging trends in adsorption process for environmental applicationsView all 4 articles
Emerging Micropollutants: Risks, Regulatory Trends, and Adsorption Based-Magnetic Nanotechnology Solutions
Provisionally accepted
Amina Mumtaz1*
Saul Santini1,2
Martin Albino2,3Beatrice Muzzi2,3
Cristian Marinelli4
Alessandra Cincinelli1,2Claudio Sangregorio2,3
Tania Martellini1,2- 1Universita degli Studi di Firenze Dipartimento di Chimica Ugo Schiff, Florence, Italy
- 2Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali, Florence, Italy
- 3Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Sezione di Firenze, Florence, Italy
- 4Analytical food, Florence, Italy
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Emerging micropollutants (EMPs) like pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, microplastics, flame retardants and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are a growing concern in aquatic environments due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential toxicity. While traditional wastewater treatment technologies like advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and microbial degradation may be efficient, they tend to be expensive, sophisticated, and inadequate in fully eliminating EMPs. Adsorption via metallic and metal oxide nanomaterials offers an attractive, low-cost and effective option over traditional technologies. This review focuses on various EMPs, pesticides among them, and their adverse impacts. It presents the physical and chemical adsorption processes employed by metal and metal oxide nanomaterials for the removal of these contaminants. Various synthesis techniques of such nanoparticles from chemical, physical, and biological techniques are discussed, highlighting their respective merits and drawbacks. The role of nanomaterials in wastewater treatment, particularly in the removal of heavy metals, antibiotics, and pesticides, is highlighted due to their high adsorption efficiency. The review also discusses the importance of nanoparticle recovery and regeneration to promote green and sustainable water treatment systems. In conclusion, it demonstrates that although nanotechnology offers significant promise for addressing water pollution, more research is needed into eco-friendly synthesis methods to improve its effectiveness in environmental remediation.
Keywords: Adsorption, nanomaterials, Wastewater treatments, Metallic nano-particles, Emerging micro pollutants (EMPs), Green synthesis
Received: 29 Jul 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mumtaz, Santini, Albino, Muzzi, Marinelli, Cincinelli, Sangregorio and Martellini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Amina Mumtaz, amina.mumtaz@unifi.it
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.