Sci Rep
June 2023
Mature landfill wastewater is a complex effluent due to its low biodegradability and high organic matter content. Currently, mature leachate is treated on-site or transported to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Many WWTPs do not have the capacity to receive mature leachate due to its high organic load leading to an increase in the cost of transportation to treatment plants more adapted to this type of wastewater and the possibility of environmental impacts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAvermectins are pharmaceutical drugs widely used mainly in livestock to combat both ectoparasites and endoparasites. Drugs belonging to this family include ivermectin, abamectin, doramectin, selamectin, eprinomectin, and emamectin benzoate, and they share similar chemical characteristics. When administered to livestock, between 80 and 98% of the drug is estimated to leave the body without being metabolized in feces, thus reaching the soil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEprinomectin, a veterinary drug within the family of avermectins, is widely used in the agricultural sector to combat a variety of parasites, mainly nematodes. However, only 10% of the drug is metabolized in the organism, so large quantities of the drug are released into the environment through urine and/or feces. Soil is the first and main environmental compartment to be contaminated by it, and nontargeted organisms can be affected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe concerns regarding the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants have increased in the last decades. Gatifloxacin (GAT), the fourth generation of fluoroquinolones, has been widely used to treat both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and has a limited metabolization. The present study aimed to evaluate ozonation as a technique to degrade GAT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
August 2021
In a post-pandemic scenario, indoor air monitoring may be required seeking to safeguard public health, and therefore well-defined methods, protocols, and equipment play an important role. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, this manuscript presents a literature review on indoor air sampling methods to detect viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2. The review was conducted using the following online databases: Web of Science, Science Direct, and PubMed, and the Boolean operators "AND" and "OR" to combine the following keywords: air sampler, coronavirus, COVID-19, indoor, and SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
January 2021
Sulfaquinoxaline (SQX) has been detected in environmental water samples, where its side effects are still unknown. To the best of our knowledge, its oxidation by Fenton and photo-Fenton processes has not been previously reported. In this study, SQX oxidation, mineralization, and toxicity ( and bacteria) were evaluated at two different setups: laboratory bench (2 L) and pilot plant (15 L).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotoperoxidation (UV/HO) was used to degrade three of the worldwide most consumed antidepressant pharmaceuticals-bupropion, escitalopram, and fluoxetine-in ultrapure water, drinking tap water, surface water, and reclaimed water. The study was performed with antidepressants in concentration levels in which these compounds usually occur in the water matrices. Online solid-phase extraction coupled to UHPLC-MS/MS was used to quantify the analytes during degradation studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBenzimidazoles (BZ) are among the most used drugs to treat parasitic diseases in both human and veterinary medicine. In this study, solutions fortified with albendazole (ABZ), fenbendazole (FBZ), and thiabendazole (TBZ) were subjected to photoperoxidation (UV/HO). The hydroxyl radicals generated by the process removed up to 99% of ABZ, and FBZ, in the highest dosage of HO (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study presents a comparison of three methods for TiO-N synthesis that were applied in the photocatalytic oxidation of the fluoroquinolones (FQs) ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and lomefloxacin in aqueous solution. The TiO-N bandgap is small enough to allow the use of solar energy in the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) reactions. The TiO doped by a sol-gel method with titanium butoxide (TiO-N-BUT) and titanium isopropoxide (TiO-N-PROP) as the precursor were effective as the TiO (P25) impregnation with urea (TiO-N-P25) to degrade the FQs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiardia is a protozoan parasite of primary concern for the drinking water industry. High contact times are required for Giardia inactivation by chlorination, while ozonation may be effective at much lower Ct products. In this study, we have assessed the occurrence of Giardia cysts in raw water, and in chlorinated or ozonated water from a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) in Brazil, over a 16-month period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng
December 2019
The herbicide amicarbazone (AMZ), which appeared as a possible alternative to atrazine, presents moderate environmental persistence and is unlikely to be removed by conventional water treatment techniques. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) driven by OH and/or SO radicals are then promising alternatives to AMZ-contaminated waters remediation, even though, in some cases, they can originate more toxic degradation products than the parent-compound. Therefore, assessing treated solutions toxicity prior to disposal is of extreme importance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, a solution containing the fluoroquinolones (FQs) ciprofloxacin, lomefloxacin, and ofloxacin (antimicrobial agents) was subjected to photocatalytic oxidation under UVA irradiation, employing the commercial titanium dioxide as catalyst. On-line solid phase extraction coupled to ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy was used to pre-concentrate and quantify the analytes. The process provided an almost 95% degradation efficiency for all the FQs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe protozoan Giardia duodenalis is one of the parasites of primary concern in drinking water treatment plants, due to its resistance to chlorination. Another matter of concern regarding chlorination of drinking water is the formation of disinfection by-products in the presence of precursors such as natural organic matter (NOM). In this study, the effects of ozonation (5 mg L) on G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
September 2019
Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been highly efficient in degrading contaminants of emerging concern (CEC). This study investigated the efficiency of photolysis, peroxidation, photoperoxidation, and ozonation at different pH values to degrade doxycycline (DC) in three aqueous matrices: fountain, tap, and ultrapure water. More than 99.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobials are continuously detected in environmental waters and their removal is important to avoid health and microorganisms damage. In this work, the peroxidation assisted by ultraviolet radiation (UV/HO) was studied to verify if the process was able to degrade sulfaquinoxaline and ofloxacin antimicrobials and to remove the toxicity and the antimicrobial activity of the solution. This process was effective on degradation of the antimicrobials, despite the antimicrobial activity removal, the toxicity of the solution increased throughout the reaction time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLomefloxacin (LOM) is a synthetic antimicrobial from the fluoroquinolone family (FQ) used as a veterinary and human drug. Once in the environment, LOM may pose a risk to aquatic and terrestrial microorganisms due to its antimicrobial activity. This study evaluated the effect of ozonation of LOM (500 μg L), the residual antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and acute toxicity against Vibrio fischeri.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined the removal of ammonia nitrogen from the leachate of a landfill site using the chemical precipitation of struvite (MgNHPO.6HO). This procedure achieved a reduction in the ammonia concentration that was higher than 99% when the molar ratio of 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aims of the present study were (1) to evaluate the abundance and taxonomic composition of ciliated protozoa in the activated sludge of a full-scale combined anaerobic-aerobic system operating in a tropical country and (2) to study the relationship between the effluent quality, the physicochemical variables, and the ciliates present in the operating system. The total ciliate fauna of the activated sludge of the Piçarrão Wastewater Treatment Plant (Piçarrão WWTP) was composed of 36 morphospecies belonging to 33 genera. These included 21 species observed in the activated sludge samples on the day of collection and 15 species found in cultures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSulfaquinoxaline (SQX) is an antimicrobial of the sulfonamides class. Usually employed in veterinary medicine, this contaminant of emerging concern has been found in superficial and groundwater and its consequences for the environment and human health are not completely known. In this study, SQX (C = 500 μg L, 1 L) degradation by an ozonation process at pH 3, 7, and 11 was evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGatifloxacin, an antimicrobial drug belonging to the fluoroquinolone family, is active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and is extensively used for the control of infections in humans. The presence of the drug in environmental matrices has already been reported. This study investigated the degradation of gatifloxacin in water by hydroxyl radicals generated by the UV/HO process ([Formula: see text] 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIvermectin (IVM) is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug that is regularly employed in veterinary medicine. In this work, the sorption and desorption of IVM in two Brazilian soils (N1-sand and S2-clay) as well as its leaching capacity, dissipation under aerobic conditions, and degradation in aqueous solution by photocatalysis with TiO2 in suspension were evaluated. The kinetic sorption curves of IVM were adjusted to a pseudo-second-order model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhysicochemical treatment efficiency for unrestricted urban water reuse was evaluated at a conventional activated-sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Pilot plant set-up consisted of an alum coagulation step, granular media upflow flocculation and direct downflow dual-media filtration followed by ultraviolet disinfection (dose of 95 mJ cm⁻²). Optimum aluminum sulfate dosage of 10 mg L⁻¹ and coagulation pH 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study evaluated the effect of peroxidation assisted by ultraviolet radiation (H2O2/UV), which is an advanced oxidation process (AOP), on Giardia duodenalis cysts. The cysts were inoculated in synthetic and surface water using a concentration of 12 g H2O2 L(-1) and a UV dose (λ = 254 nm) of 5,480 mJcm(-2). The aqueous solutions were concentrated using membrane filtration, and the organisms were observed using a direct immunofluorescence assay (IFA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe contamination of bodies of water by raw and even treated sewage is worrying because pathogens that affect public health and the environment are not fully eliminated in wastewater treatment systems. The disinfection step is an important barrier to adopt to reduce this contamination. However, widely used disinfectants such as chlorine do not guarantee the inactivation of resistant organisms such as spore-forming bacteria and helminth eggs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFlumequine is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent of the quinolone class, and it is widely used as a veterinary drug in food-producing animals. The presence of flumequine in the environment may contribute to the development of drug resistant bacterial strains. In this study, water samples fortified with flumequine (500 μg L(-1)) were degraded using the Fenton and photo-Fenton processes.
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