Remedial Technologies for Aniline and Aniline Derivatives Elimination from Wastewater

BACKGROUND. Aniline and its derivatives are widely used as intermediate chemicals in the pharmaceutical and dye industries and are present in their wastewaters. These chemicals are of concern due to their potential detrimental effects on public health and aquatic species in the environment. OBJECTIVES. Various available remedial technologies presented in the literature were investigated to determine the most suitable technology for the elimination of aniline and aniline derivatives from waste streams. METHODS. The related literature was collected electronically from ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), ResearchGate and Wiley Online Library for systematic review. The search terms included ‘aniline’, ‘aniline degradation’, ‘advanced oxidation processes (AOPs)’, ‘aniline derivatives’ and ‘Fenton’s reagent'. DISCUSSION. Aniline and its derivatives are a serious issue in the effluents of dye and pharmaceutical industries, but a number of efficient treatment methods using biological, physical and AOPs have been presented in the literature. CONCLUSIONS. Comparison of the available technologies showed that AOPs were the most cost effective and efficient technologies for eliminating aniline and its derivatives from wastewater. COMPETING INTERESTS. The authors declare no competing financial interests.