Fungal bioremediation of emerging micropollutants in municipal wastewaters

Nowadays, the presence of emerging micropollutants is one of the main issues related to the release into the environment of municipal wastewaters. Considering that wastewater treatment plants are not specifically designed for remove them, fungi and their enzymes are among the most promising solutions to the problem. The current state of research is described in the chapter, highlighting the major achievements obtained so far by researchers for the conversion of emerging micropollutants such as EDCs, PCPs, biological active compounds, etc. Advantages and disadvantages in the use of fungal whole-cell systems or of their enzymes as crude extracts or purified enzymes have been taken into consideration. Some operative (addition of nutrient, pH control, etc.) and technological solutions (mediator addition, immobilization of the biocatalysts, etc.) able to enhance the effectiveness and the stability of biological treatments are also presented. Since the removal of pollutants and the abatement of the toxicity are the two main goals of any treatment, water quality assessment requires targeted analysis to investigate the biological effect that samples could have on aquatic organisms and human health by monitoring the ecotoxicity and the estrogenic activity. Even though bioassays are not a routine practice, they have often been used to assess the efficacy of fungal and enzymatic processes.