Aim: To carry out a systematic review of the environmental regulation applicable to emerging pollutants at the international level, with a special interest in Mexico.

Methods: The search for articles and documents was carried out under the criteria of the PRISMA statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis), in databases such as Pub-Med, Scopus, Science Direct, Jane’s, Dimensions, Google Scholar, as well as the Comprehensive System of Standards and Evaluation of the Ministry of the Interior of Mexico.

Results: 3089 documents were reviewed, and considering the inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria, 2 tables were constructed, the first with 24 scientific articles and the second with 7 Mexican standards.

Conclusion: The regulation of emerging pollutants is a critical issue that must involve all sectors (for example, political, economic, social, and environmental). For this, it is necessary to coordinate the government, society and consider the experiences of other countries for its implementation. It was also identified that the issues of access to information and education programs have a significant impact on compliance with environmental regulations and that there is little scientific evidence on this matter.

Syringe filters are used to separate solids from liquids before chromatography analysis for the removal of particulate matter to avoid column blockage. The inappropriate selection of syringe filters may lead to the interception of micropollutants in samples (especially aqueous phase samples) and inaccurate quantification. In this study, mass losses of typical micropollutants - pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) - by syringe filters were evaluated considering the material of syringe filters, the pore size of syringe filters, solvents, and pre-rinsing. The lowest mass losses of 57 PPCPs were observed by hydrophobic- polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (median value was 10%), but for quinolone (7-37%) and macrolide antibiotics (9-52%), the mass losses were still considerable. By changing the pore sizes of filters, the interception of quinolone and macrolide antibiotics by hydrophobic-PTFE was not improved. In contrast, by increasing the proportion of methanol in the solvent and discarding the first 1 mL pre-rinsing samples, the mass losses of quinolone and macrolide antibiotics by hydrophobic-PTFE can be considerably decreased. This study provides guidance for selecting appropriate filters for micropollutants before chromatography analysis of samples to guarantee the accuracy of the results.

In recent years, the environmental pollution caused by micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) has increased. As a result of their negative impact on human health and the environment, MNPs have emerged as new scientific challenges. However, there are still some inconclusive findings. In this perspective, we analyze the traditional membrane performance that is thought to be applicable for MNPs removal, intending to highlight the electrospun nanofiber membrane as a potential next-generation feasible membrane technique. However, the lack of inter-comparability across studies and the limited data sources account for the high level of uncertainty associated with the application of electrospun nanofiber membranes in the control of MNPs pollution. Hence, we propose a long-term road map for controlling MNPs pollution in the environment with electrospun nanofiber membranes, which will assist in mitigating the difficulties encountered during the experimental stages.