How effective is biological activated carbon in removing micropollutants? A comprehensive review

Micropollutants (MPs), also called emerging contaminants, are detected in various environmental compartments. Wastewater is their main entry pathway due to the incomplete removal of MPs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). These contaminants are a risk to human health and the integrity of the ecosystem because they are persistent and toxic to organisms. Complementary treatments such as adsorption are studied to increase the efficiency of existing WWTPs. However, a disadvantage of using activated carbon is its high cost of production and regeneration. Biological activated carbon (BAC) is an alternative to overpass this scenario. In BAC, biofilm development occurs on the surface of activated carbon, which enables bioregeneration of the adsorbent and extends its lifetime. This review focused on the studies that applied BAC to remove MPs in aqueous matrices. The review methodology was based on bibliometric and systematic analysis. Tables and thematic maps were presented to investigate trends and gaps in research and related themes. The study points out the leading MPs researched in adsorption in the last ten years. The systematic analysis showed that most studies bring sequential treatments with real wastewater/water, in which BAC is the final process. BAC has the potential to be a complementary treatment for removing MPs. However, there is a lack of articles investigating only BAC as the main tertiary treatment. Topics that should be further investigated in this area are the microbiological community formed in the biofilm, the column's lifetime, and the cost analysis of BAC implementation and operation.