Removing pharmaceuticals and endocrine‐disrupting compounds from wastewater by photocatalysis

Abstract

Widespread concerns continue to be raised about the increasing presence of emerging contaminants in the environment. Such compounds include a wide range of persistent organic chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting compounds whose effects are poorly known, often because they have only begun to enter the environment and are showing up in wastewater treatment plants. The occurrence and behavior of these compounds in wastewater are key issues with regard to water reclamation and reuse. Treatment plants are now faced with the challenge of removing the compounds from their effluent before they enter natural waterways. In this regard, photocatalysis is a promising technology for wastewater treatment that offers many advantages over conventional and some advanced treatment options. The application of photocatalysis for the removal of pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting compounds for wastewater is comprehensively surveyed in this paper. This treatment technology is not intended to replace conventional systems but to supplement for higher-quality effluent. The assessment places emphasis on the process fundamentals, advantages, and disadvantages of the technology. It also focuses on the current limitations and future research needs.

Photolysis and TiO2-catalysed degradation of diclofenac in surface and drinking water using circulating batch photoreactors

“…Adsorption experiments were conducted using 100 mL of DCF solution of different concentrations (10-60 mg L À1 ) and 0.1 g L À1 of TiO 2 P25. The suspensions were mixed using an orbital shaker (Stuart Model SSL1) under continuous agitation at 230 rpm and exclusion of light for 24 h. Adsorption experiments were also conducted at different pH values (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). The equilibrium concentrations were determined by HPLC after filtration through a 0.22-mm syringe filter.…”

“…[6] Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been proposed as a superior technology over that of conventional water treatment methodologies for the removal of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals. [7][8][9] All AOPs are based on the in situ generation of highly reactive and shortlived reactive oxygen species such as HO , H 2 O 2 , O 3 and O 2 water bodies, [16,17] groundwater aquifers [18] and WWTP effluents [19] and its toxic effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. [20,21] In particular, DCF has displayed the highest acute toxicity in comparison to other NSAIDs.…”

Treatment options for wastewater effluents from pharmaceutical companies

“…Photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photochemical transformation by the action of a catalyst such as TiO 2 or Fenton's reagent (Chatterjee and Dasgupta, 2005;Herrmann, 2005;Dalrymple et al, 2007). Most photocatalysts are semiconductor metal oxides which characteristically possess a narrow band gap.…”

Targeted and non-targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric workflows for identification of transformation products of emerging pollutants in the aquatic environment

“…For pesticides, mineralization of pesticides by photocatalytic degradation has been reported and the by-products and intermediates of organophosphate pesticides by photocatalytic degradation were recently presented [81]. Pharmaceutical compounds [19,82], endocrinedisrupting compounds [82], UV filters [83], and phenol [84] have also been thoroughly surveyed for their fate and their TPs during photolysis.…”