Authors: Vanessa Honda Ogihara Silva Ana Paula dos Santos Batista Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira Sueli Ivone Borrely
Publish Date: 2016/03/09
Volume: 23, Issue: 12, Pages: 11927-11936
Abstract
Electron beam irradiation EBI has been considered an advanced technology for the treatment of water and wastewater whereas very few previous investigations reported its use for removing pharmaceutical pollutants In this study the degradation of fluoxetine FLX an antidepressant marketed as Prozac® was investigated by using EBI at FLX initial concentration of 194 ± 02 mg L−1 More than 90 FLX degradation was achieved at 05 kGy with FLX below the detection limit 0012 mg L−1 at doses higher than 25 kGy The elucidation of organic byproducts performed using direct injection mass spectrometry along with the results of ion chromatography indicated hydroxylation of FLX molecules with release of fluoride and nitrate anions Nevertheless about 80 of the total organic carbon concentration remained even for 75 kGy or higher doses The decreases in acute toxicity achieved 868 and 96 for Daphnia similis and Vibrio fischeri after EBI exposure at 5 kGy respectively These results suggest that EBI could be an alternative to eliminate FLX and to decrease residual toxicity from wastewater generated in pharmaceutical formulation facilities although further investigation is needed for correlating the FLX degradation mechanism with the toxicity resultsThe authors thank the Brazilian National Council of Scientific and Technological Development CNPq the International Atomic Energy Agency and São Paulo Research Foundation FAPESP grants 2013/502182 and 2014/179964 for the financial support The authors are also grateful to the LAPAt Laboratory Institute of Astronomy Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences University of São Paulo for the ion chromatography analysis They are also grateful to Dr Maria Anita Mendes Department of Chemical Engineering University of São Paulo for her valuable assistance with the UHRQqTOF mass spectrometry analysis
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