Occurrence, Toxicity, and Removal Methods of Triclosan: a Timely Review

Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that has been widely used in pharmaceutical and personal care products. TCS enters the environment mainly in effluent and biosolids from wastewater treatment plants, and persists in the aquatic environment and edatope. TCS is potentially harmful to the environment and biohealth because of its properties, being lipophilic, accumulative, toxic, and persistent. Therefore, TCS has become a research hotspot in recent years. The purpose of this review is to summarize the occurrence, toxicity, ecological effects, and removal methods of TCS. TCS has a long half-life, and is found widely in the environment. Toxicity and ecological effects of TCS have been found in recent studies. Moreover, TCS has joint effects with multiple pollutants, and many of its transformation products are also toxic. Methods to remove TCS from the environment include adsorption, advanced oxidation technology, ecological engineering, and applying multiple methods in tandem. Each method is constantly being updated. This paper reviews recent research done on TCS, focusing on its occurrence, toxicity, ecological effects, and removal. Finally, several perspectives for research on this substance are outlined.