Impact of the use of treated wastewater for agricultural need: Behavior of organic micropollutants in soil, transfer to crops, and related risks

Agriculture represents a sector typically characterized by a high water demand. On the other hand, limited fresh water availability is a problem of increasing concern worldwide. The reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for edible crop irrigation could be an efficient strategy for reducing water shortage. However, TWW reuse poses risks for both environment and human health due to the transfer of chemical contamination from water to soil and edible crops. This chapter discusses the behavior of various categories of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in the wastewater/soil/edible crop systems, with particular reference of pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs). Moreover, the assessment of the risk associated with the intake of several fruits and vegetables contaminated with OMPs was performed for some model organic contaminants widely investigated in literature. Data were reviewed using the search engines Google Scholar and SciFinder, and referred to the time intervals from 2010 or 2005 to today for PhCs and other OMPs, respectively.