Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a group of organobromine compounds that are used as flame retardants in many commonly used products. Their presence has been confirmed in various environmental matrices. Their usage in numerous consumer products has lent credence to their ability to retard flammable gas formation, hence their ubiquitous nature in the environment. PBDEs have been described as endocrine disrupting chemicals because of their interference with the endocrine system function in fish and other terrestrial animals. In spite of the progress in research over the years on PBDEs, full understanding of the environmental behaviour and fate of this contaminant is still elusive. In this review, sources by which PBDEs enter the environment have been evaluated in conjunction with their levels, as well as their toxicity, and the transformation and transport of PBDEs in various environmental compartments. This provides a better understanding of the behaviour of these emerging environmental contaminants within the environment. While acknowledging the numerous studies that have been conducted on the environmental contamination by PBDEs, emerging issues and data gaps have been identified.

The presence of 17 pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) belonging to various therapeutic categories was investigated in two hospital wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in North West Province, South Africa. The compounds were extracted from wastewater samples by solid-phase extraction and analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that ofloxacin, chloramphenicol, and bezafibrate were generally below the limit of quantification (LOQ) in the analysed samples. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen were the dominant pharmaceuticals in the influent streams with corresponding concentrations ranging from 21 to 119 μg/L and 0.3 to 63 μg/L, respectively. Both WWTPs were shown to have the capability to remove some of the target PPCPs, including acetaminophen (76-98%), tetracycline (15-93%), ibuprofen (44-99%), and triclocarban (13-98%). The monitoring of the target PPCPs in both influent and effluent samples of the investigated WWTPs revealed that the discharge of inadequately treated effluents could be contributing to the possible increase in the concentrations of these contaminants in the receiving environmental compartments. Further studies must be focused on the broader characterisation of these matrices in order to assess the potential ecological impacts of this waste disposal practice.

Triclosan and triclocarban are industrial chemicals that are frequently added into consumer and personal care products. Information on the levels on these compounds in water systems in the African continent is still very scarce. In the present study, the occurrence, seasonal variation, and estimated removal of TCS and TCC in six different wastewater treatment plants in Gauteng Province, South Africa, were investigated over a period of two years, together with effluent receiving river water. The instrumental analysis was carried out using Shimadzu LCMS/MS 8030, employing negative electrospray ionization. Both target compounds were ubiquitously detected with influent and raw sludge having elevated concentrations. Generally, TCS concentrations were higher than those of TCC. The concentrations obtained for TCS were (influent, 2.01–17.6 μg/L; effluent, 0.990–13.0 μg/L; river, 0.880–8.72 μg/L; raw sludge, 3.65–15.0 μg/kg; treated sludge, 2.08–7.81 μg/kg and biosolids, 2.16–13.5 μg/kg); while TCC levels were obtained to be (influent, 0.0860–2.84 μg/L; effluent,