Microbial Degradation of Paracetamol in Pharmaceutical Wastewater: A Review

Paracetamol (4′-hydroxyacetanilide or N-acetyl-p-aminophenol or Acetaminophen) is an analgesic and antipyretic over-the-counter commonly used drug. Paracetamol has been detected in, surface waters, wastewater, and drinking water globally because of its significant utilization and unregulated release into the surroundings which have been a great concern and require an urgent approach. Microbial degradation of paracetamol is considered a desirable choice because of its lenient reaction conditions, low-cost operation, and eco-friendly process. This review focuses on summarizing the current processes for the biodegradation of paracetamol. The review includes characteristics and prevalent pharmaceutical drugs in wastewater, toxicity, degrading microorganisms, enzymes, and possible intermediates. Factors affecting the microbial degradation process of paracetamol such as growth pH, microbial cell concentration, temperature, and glucose have also been reported. The wide knowledge of biotransformation sequence and enzymatic processes engaged in the usage of paracetamol will help enable the optimization and simple design of microbial degradation techniques, which are expected to be more efficient in the treatment of paracetamol-contaminated wastewater.