Simultaneous removal of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals from aqueous phase via adsorptive strategy: A critical review

•Synchronous adsorption of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals by adsorbents.•Simultaneous removal behaviors include promotion, inhibition and non-influence.•Environmental conditions can affect the simultaneous adsorption processes.•Solvent elution method is used for regeneration of saturated adsorbents. The coexistence of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals is regarded as a serious threat to aquatic environments. Adsorbents have been widely applied to the simultaneous removal of pharmaceuticals and metals from aqueous phase. Through a comprehensive review, behaviors that promote, inhibit, or have no effect on simultaneous adsorption of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals were found to depend on the system of contaminants and adsorbents and their environmental conditions, such as: characteristics of adsorbent and pollutant, temperature, pH, inorganic ions, and natural organic matter. Bridging and competition effects are the main reasons for promoting and inhibiting adsorption in coexisting systems, respectively. The promotion is more significant in neutral or alkaline conditions. After simultaneous adsorption, a solvent elution approach was most commonly used for regeneration of saturated adsorbents. To conclude, this work could help to sort out the theoretical knowledge in this field, and may provide new insights into the prevention and control of pharmaceuticals and heavy metals coexisting in wastewater. [Display omitted]