New methodology for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment
Pharmaceuticals represent a major contributor to water contamination. Iodinated X-ray contrast medium agents (CMA) are used for the imaging of soft tissues in elevated doses for each imaging operation. CMAs are resistant to conventional biological wastewater treatment and have been detected at high concentrations not only in the effluents of wastewater treatment plants but in drinking water as well. The EU-funded REMEDI project will train early-stage researchers and future professionals in the domain of competitive use of water resources within an industrial environment, focussing on water scarcity provoked by pharmaceutical contamination. The project is a joint effort between the environmental company Tauw GmbH, the Polytechnic University of Milan and the University of Warwick.