Recent technologies for glyphosate removal from aqueous environment: A critical review

The growing demand for food has led to an increase in the use of herbicides and pesticides over the years. One of the most widely used herbicides is glyphosate (GLY). It has been used extensively since 1974 for weed control and is currently classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Group 2A substance, probably carcinogenic to humans. The industry and academia have some disagreements regarding GLY toxicity in humans and its effects on the environment. Even though this herbicide is not mentioned in the WHO water guidelines, some countries have decided to set maximum acceptable concentrations in tap water, while others have decided to ban its use in crop production completely. Researchers around the world have employed different technologies to remove or degrade GLY, mostly at the laboratory scale. Water treatment plants combine different technologies to remove it alongside other water pollutants, in some cases achieving acceptable removal efficiencies. Certainly, there are many challenges in upscaling purification technologies due to the costs and lack of factual information about their adverse effects. This review presents different technologies that have been used to remove GLY from water since 2012 to date, its detection and removal methods, challenges, and future perspectives.