Simultaneous Degradation of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Hospital Wastewater Using Ozone Under Ultraviolet Irradiation

• DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4570411
• Publication Date: 2023-09-13T11:18:54Z
• Authors: Junyoung Kim; Imtiaz Afzal Khan; Jae Won Lee; Youngnoh Kim; Seokhwan Jeon; Jong-Oh Kim; Soryong R. Chae
• Keywords: Ultraviolet irradiation; Degradation; Ultraviolet

In this study, the degradation of pharmaceuticals and personal care product (PPCP) compounds, including caffeine (CAF), atenolol (ATL), carbamazepine (CBZ), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), trimethoprim (TMP), acetaminophen (ACT) was evaluated under exposure to 1.0 1.5 mg/L ozone (O3), both with without ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, we determined that removal efficiency for targeted contaminants exceeded 95% within just 20 minutes O3. However, when treated UV light alone, limited at 3% - 11%. A combination treatment involving O3 led over 97% 7 minutes. This outcome attributed hydroxylation reactions, aromatic ring opening, oxidation, mineralization facilitated by OH• peroxide generated through photolysis The rate PPCP compounds followed pseudo-first-order kinetics showed a decrease in presence humic acid. Specifically, k1 constant decreased from –0.533, –0.490, –0.523, –0.612, –0.631, –0.412 min-1 –0.453, –0.325, –0.423, –0.456, –0.491, –0.225 5 HA, –0.353, –0.225, –0.352, –0.375, –0.446, –0.214 hospital wastewater matrix, CAF, ATL, ACT, SMX, TMP, CBZ degradation, respectively. Furthermore, O3/UV resulted generation lower-weight products. Toxicity analysis indicated these transformation products were environmentally benign did not pose significant health hazards.