Degradation of pharmaceutical waste from water by combination of heterogeneous catalyst and ozonation

摘要

Pharmaceutical pollution rising from the increased consumption of human and animals cattle is a threat to wildlife, environment and as well as humans [1]. Recently, research has been done on analysis of pharmaceuticals in rivers. For instance, in one research focusing on the number of common pharmaceuticals in a river system in Eastern Finland, found out that all of these could be detected in relatively high concentrations (nanogram to microgram per liter scale). The drugs were found at the discharge point, thus they remained undegraded over long distances down the river [2]. Residues of pharmaceuticals principally in rivers and seas, have already damaged some wildlife populations and generations [1]. Extensive research has been done on the effect of the pharmaceutical on wildlife; for instance the effect of diclofenac (DCF) and carbamazepine on specific flying insects was investigated and shown that exposure to these drug may create negative impacts in the survival of this species [3]. Additionally, ibuprofen (IBU) in Japanese rice fish could damage the reproduction at concentration of 1μg L~(-1) IBU, by the influence on estrogen homeostasis[4]. It is clear that these compounds are not efficiently degraded by the conventional treatment processes. Accordingly, it is essential to create an efficient water treatment method for eliminating these Compounds. In the present work, a new technology which combines ozonation with heterogeneous catalyst was employed for removing these compounds (IBU, DCF) from the water and moreover analyse the results to identify the by-product formed after the ozonation experiments.