Monitoring pharmaceuticals and personal care products in reservoir water used for drinking water supply.

In this work, the presence of selected emerging contaminants has been investigated in two reservoirs, La Fe (LF) and Rio Grande (RG), which supply water to two drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) of Medellin, one of the most populated cities of Colombia. An analytical method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) of the sample followed by measurement by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for this purpose. Five monitoring campaigns were performed in each reservoir, collecting samples from 7 sites (LF) and 10 sites (RG) at 3 different depths of the water column.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of the endocrine-disrupting chemical Benzophenone-3: Parameters optimization and by-products identification.

Benzophenone-3 (BP3) is one of the most used UV filters. Its disruptive effect on the endocrine system of different living beings has been demonstrated by several research groups. Present work addresses on a photocatalytic degradation of BP3 using particles of titanium dioxide in aqueous solutions considering the effect of operating parameters such as pH, catalyst and pollutant initial concentrations, and the presence of hydrogen peroxide, acetonitrile and isopropanol in the solution.