Several strategies are available to reduce or eliminate recalcitrant sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfa drugs) from aqueous media. These contaminants are bioactive and ubiquitous pollutants of soils and watercourses and are known to induce bacterial resistance. Here the biological, chemical and physical methods developed over the last 5 years to decontaminate waters polluted with sulfa drugs are reviewed with special attention to procedures that make use of porous adsorbent materials and their applicability to real waters.
