p-Nitrophenol determination and remediation: an overview

An almost exhaustive overview of the determination and remediation of p-nitrophenol (p-NP)-contaminated media is herein presented. p-NP is one of the priority pollutants on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list. This is because p-NP is either a precursor or a derivative of a good number of pollutants. It is itself very carcinogenic and tends to persist in water and soil. This has prompted the development of a wide range of analytical tools by researchers for its determination and eventual removal from contaminated sites. These include electrochemical methods with many electrode modifiers and electroanalytical procedures developed for the detection/quantification of p-NP in contaminated environments. Also, chromatographic and p-NP uptake techniques, particularly adsorption onto various adsorbents (ranging from natural to synthetic), are reviewed. The use of microorganisms for the bioremediation of p-NP-contaminated samples and sites has equally been largely studied and is herein overviewed, not forgetting advanced oxidative processes.