Relevance of an electrochemical process prior to a biological treatment for the removal of an organophosphorous pesticide, phosmet

Occurrence, ecological risk, and advanced removal methods of herbicides in waters: a timely review

Coastal pollution caused by the importation of agricultural herbicides is one of the main environmental problems that directly affect the coastal primary productivity and even the safety of human seafood. It is urgent to evaluate the ecological risk objectively and explore feasible removal strategies. However, existing studies focus on the runoff distribution and risk assessment of specific herbicides in specific areas, and compared with soil environment, there are few studies on remediation methods for water environment. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the current situation of herbicide pollution in global coastal waters and the dose-response relationships of various herbicides on phytoplankton and higher trophic organisms from the perspective of ecological risks. In addition, we believe that compared with the traditional single physical and chemical remediation methods, biological remediation and its combined technology are the most promising methods for herbicide pollution remediation currently. Therefore, we focus on the application prospects, challenges, and management strategies of new bioremediation systems related to biology, such as constructed wetlands, membrane bioreactor processes, and microbial co-metabolism, in order to provide more advanced methods for reducing herbicide pollution in the water environment.

Burial leakage: A human accustomed groundwater contaminant sources and health hazards study near cemeteries in Benin City, Nigeria

This study was carried out to assess the levels of physico-chemical parameters that could be impacted by burial leakage and associated human health risks in Benin City, Nigeria. A total of thirty groundwater samples were collected from two cemeteries and analysed for pH, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, ammonia- N, calcium, sodium, potassium, BOD₅, COD, Mn, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Fe. The concentrations of the parameters were compared to national and international standards. The results revealed that the groundwater is highly acidic in nature. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that except for alkalinity, all other parameters characterised contributed significantly to various principal components (PC) with eigenvalues ≥ 1. Moreover, the significance of the PC depicted decomposition of the body corpse and associated burial materials. Water quality index (WQI), heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) and Nemerov pollution index (NI) indicated that groundwater from the study area is of poor quality, and highly contaminated by heavy metals. We determined the Chronic health risk through exposure by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI), for both children and adults. For the oral exposure, approximately 33% of samples suggest the high category of chronic risk for children while the medium category was indicated for adults. We found that oral exposure showed relatively higher risk than dermal exposure, and chronic risk for children and adults ranged from low to negligible. However, the carcinogenic risk of Ni and Pb via oral exposure route suggests, very high risk for Ni and medium risk for Pb. In consideration that long term exposure to low concentrations of some heavy metals (including Pb, Cd, and Ni) could result in different manifestations of cancer, we recommend that residents of these areas should find an alternative source of water for drinking and other domestic uses.

Comprehensive understanding of electrochemical treatment systems combined with biological processes for wastewater remediation

The presence of toxic pollutants in wastewater discharge can affect the environment negatively due to presence of the organic and inorganic contaminants. The application of the electrochemical process in wastewater treatment is promising, specifically in treating these harmful pollutants from the aquatic environment. This review focused on recent applications of the electrochemical process for the remediation of such harmful pollutants from aquatic environments. Furthermore, the process conditions that affect the electrochemical process performance are evaluated, and the appropriate treatment processes are suggested according to the presence of organic and inorganic contaminants. Electrocoagulation, electrooxidation, and electro-Fenton applications in wastewater have shown effective performance with high removal rates. The disadvantages of these processes are the formation of toxic intermediate metabolites, high energy consumption, and sludge generation. To overcome such disadvantages combined ecotechnologies can be applied in large-scale wastewater pollutants removal. The combination of electrochemical and biological treatment has gained importance, increased removal performance remarkably, and decreased operational costs. The critical discussion with depth information in this review could be beneficial for wastewater treatment plant operators throughout the world.

Insights in detection and analysis of organophosphates using organophosphorus acid anhydrolases (OPAA) enzyme-based biosensors

The human population is dependent on agriculture for its food requirements and survival. Several insecticides and pesticides have found their use for improvements in agricultural yields. Organophosphates (OP) are one of the many compounds used as insecticides and pesticides. OPs have also been used to develop G and V-series chemicals which act as highly toxic nerve agents that can severely influence the normal function of the nervous system in all living beings. Thus, OP compounds utilized as insecticides/pesticides and nerve agents are hazardous to the environment, lethal for humans and other non-target animals. To avoid their toxicity, approaches to detect and neutralize them have become essential. A variety of analytical procedures such as electrochemical processes and chromatography methods, namely liquid and gas chromatography, have been employed to detect OPs. Though these techniques are sensitive and highly accurate they suffer from drawbacks, for instance: their bulky nature and expensive instrumentation, the difficulty of operation, long detection times, and they can yield unpredictable results with variable sample complexities. With the advent of several types of biosensors, the assay of OP compounds has become simpler, faster, cost-effective with improved sensitivity, and provides the capability for onsite detection. OP biosensor assays typically utilize several enzymes with the capability to hydrolyze/degrade OP compounds, such as organophosphate hydrolase (OPH) and organophosphate acid hydrolase (OPAA). This review focuses on discussing various aspects of OPAA as biological recognition unit in terms of its: structure, properties, activity enhancement methods, and utilization for developing OPAA-based biosensing technologies for insecticides, pesticides, and nerve agents.

Construction of Novel Electro-Fenton Systems by Magnetically Decorating Zero-Valent Iron onto RuO2-IrO2/Ti Electrode for Highly Efficient Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treatment

The Electro-Fenton (E-Fenton) technique has shown great potential in wastewater treatment, while the sustainable and continuing supply of Fe2+ remains challenging. Herein, we demonstrate the construction of a novel E-Fenton system by magnetically decorating zero-valent iron (ZVI) onto a RuO2-IrO2/Ti (ZVI-RuO2-IrO2/Ti) electrode for high-efficient treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater, which is considerably refractory and harmful to conventional biological processes. By using ZVI as a durable source of Fe(II) irons, 78.69% of COD and 76.40% of TOC may be rapidly removed by the developed ZVI-RuO2-IrO2/Ti electrode, while the ZVI-RuO2-IrO2/Ti electrode using ZVI only reduces 35.64% of COD under optimized conditions at initial COD and TOC values of 5500 mg/L and 4300 mg/L, respectively. Moreover, the increase in BOD5/COD from 0.21 to 0.52 highlights the enhanced biodegradability of the treated effluent. The analysis of a simultaneously formed precipitation on electrodes suggests that the coagulation process dominated by Fe3+/Fe2+ also plays a non-negligible role in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. In addition, the monitoring of the evolution of nitrogen elements and the formation of by-products in the E-Fenton process verifies its great capacity toward those organic pollutants found in pharmaceutical wastewater. Our study offers a practical solution for enhancing the performance of E-Fenton systems, and effectively treating refractory pharmaceutical wastewater.

A novel system coupling an electro-Fenton process and an advanced biological process to remove a pharmaceutical compound, metronidazole

The objective of this study was to improve the mineralization of metronidazole, a recalcitrant antibiotic by the development of a new combined process coupling electro-Fenton and a biological process. For biotreatment, various strategies were considered bioaugmentation, bioacclimatation and biostimulation alone or combined. So, the novelty of this strategy is to combine advanced oxidation process with advanced biological process. The conventional biotreatment with activated sludge after 120 h of culture, led to 58.1% mineralization, whereas the pure isolated strains, from activated sludge culture in the presence of metronidazole by-products, identified as Pseudomonas putida (strain A) and Achromobacter sp. (strain B), led to 37.2% and 40.1% respectively. After original acclimation of the isolated strains to electrolysis by-products, the mineralization levels reached 75.6% and 72.9% for strains A and B respectively after 120 h of culture. The results showed that the mineralization of metronidazole by-products was the most important in the case of the combination of autochthonous bioaugmentation and biostimulation, with 96.1% after 120 h of treatment. By coupling the two processes, the global treatment reached therefore a mineralization yield of 97% with a reduction in processing time of 16 days compared to previous conventional biological treatment.

Recent Advances on Detection of Insecticides Using Optical Sensors

Insecticides are enormously important to industry requirements and market demands in agriculture. Despite their usefulness, these insecticides can pose a dangerous risk to the safety of food, environment and all living things through various mechanisms of action. Concern about the environmental impact of repeated use of insecticides has prompted many researchers to develop rapid, economical, uncomplicated and user-friendly analytical method for the detection of insecticides. In this regards, optical sensors are considered as favorable methods for insecticides analysis because of their special features including rapid detection time, low cost, easy to use and high selectivity and sensitivity. In this review, current progresses of incorporation between recognition elements and optical sensors for insecticide detection are discussed and evaluated well, by categorizing it based on insecticide chemical classes, including the range of detection and limit of detection. Additionally, this review aims to provide powerful insights to researchers for the future development of optical sensors in the detection of insecticides.

Liquid crystal display electrode-assisted bio-electroperoxone treatment train for the abatement of organic contaminants in a pharmaceutical wastewater

Pharmaceutical contaminants present in wastewaters cause severe health hazards among chronically exposed population. Emerging pharmaceutically active contaminants pose a serious challenge to conventional treatment technologies. Employing advanced treatment technologies for the abatement of such contaminants is usually energy-intensive. In this study, a complex pharmaceutical wastewater from a pharmaceutical industry in California, USA, was treated by employing a novel bio-electrochemical treatment train system. Labeled "Bio-electroperoxone," our proposed system comprises (i) an electrically bound biofilm reactor (EBBR) that accelerates bacterial adhesion for the removal of biodegradable and persistent organics and (ii) an electroperoxone reactor that removes recalcitrant organics with minimal energy uptake. The EBBR comprises a platinum-coated titanium cathode and a conductive nematic liquid crystal display electrode (NLCE) obtained from electronic waste that serves as the anode. Characterization of functional groups, morphology, and elemental mapping of NLCE were carried out to explain mechanisms for rapid biofilm attachment. The concomitant electroperoxone reactor comprises a platinum-coated titanium (Pt-Ti) anode and a reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) cathode that catalyzes the two-electron reduction of oxygen to form in situ H₂O₂. The bio-electroperoxone system (i) inactivated 99.99% of the micro-organisms, removed (ii) 92.20% of the color, (iii) 84.72% of the total suspended solids, and (iv) 89% of the total organic carbon (TOC). Possible mechanisms for the degradation of organic contaminants are elucidated. Bio-electroperoxone thus paves the way for an efficient and sustainable approach for the efficient removal of both biodegradable and recalcitrant, persistent organic contaminants from pharmaceutical and possibly other complex wastewaters.

The synergic persulfate-sodium dodecyl sulfate effect during the electro-oxidation of caffeine using active and non-active anodes

It has previously been established during the elimination of organic matter that the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate in solution is an important condition in the electrochemical oxidation approach that allows to increase the production of persulfate, enhancing the efficacy of the treatment. This outcome was observed when using the anodic oxidation with boron doped diamond (BDD), the extra production of persulfate was achieved after the SDS-sulfate released in solution and it reacts with hydroxyl radicals electrogenerated at BDD surface. However, this effect was not already tested by using active anodes. For this reason, the effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) during the electrochemical treatment of caffeine was investigated by comparing non-active and active anodes performances. A significant decrease on the oxidation efficiency of caffeine was observed by using Ti/IrO₂-Ta₂O₅ anode at high current density when SDS was added to the solution. Conversely, at BDD anode, the presence of SDS enhanced the degradation efficiency, depending on the applied current density. This behavior is mainly due to the degradation of SDS molecules, which allows to increase the amount of sulfate in solution, promoting the production of persulfate via the mechanism involving hydroxyl radicals when BDD is used. Meanwhile, no oxidation improvements were observed when Ti/IrO₂-Ta₂O₅ anode was employed, limiting the caffeine oxidation. Results clearly showed that the surfactant concentration had little influence on the degradation efficiency, but this result is satisfactory for the BDD system, since it demonstrates that effluents with complex matrices containing surfactants could be effectively degraded using the electrooxidation technique. Degradation mechanisms were explained by electrochemical measurements (polarization curves) as well as the kinetic analysis. Costs and energy consumption were also evaluated.

Improving biotreatability of hazardous effluents combining ZVI, electrolysis and photolysis

In this work, nine types of combination advanced oxidation processes/zero-valent iron (AOP-ZVI) were tested, in order to determine if any of these combinations demonstrate good chances as pretreatment for the biological degradation processes of organochlorinated pollutants. To do this, the changes undergone in the respirometric behavior, toxicity and short-term biodegradability were compared. The three AOPs studied were anodic oxidation with mixed metal oxides anodes (AO-MMO), with boron doped diamond anodes (AO-BDD) and photolysis and they were evaluated in three different modes: without any addition of ZVI, with ZVI-dehalogenation as pre-treatment and with ZVI-dehalogenation simultaneous to the AOP treatment. Clopyralid has been used as a model of chlorinated hydrocarbon pollutant. Results show that technologies proposed can successfully treat wastes polluted with clopyralid and the biological characteristics of the waste are significantly modified by dehalogenating the waste with ZVI, either previously to the treatment or simultaneously to the treatment, being the information provided by the three techniques very important in order to evaluate later combinations of the advanced oxidation technologies with biological treatments.

Removal of oxyfluorfen from polluted effluents by combined bio-electro processes

In this work, the combination of biological and electrochemical processes to mineralize oxyfluorfen has been studied. First, an acclimatized mixed-culture biological treatment was used to degrade the biodegradable fraction of the pesticide, reaching up to 90% removal. After that, the non-biodegraded fraction was oxidised by electrolysis using boron-doped diamond as the anode. The results showed that the electrochemical technique was able to completely mineralize the residual pollutants. The study of the influence of the supporting electrolyte on the electrochemical process showed that the trace mineral solution used in the biological treatment was enough to completely mineralize the oxyfluorfen, resulting in total organic carbon removal rates that were well-fitted by a first-order model with a kinetic constant of 0.91 h^-1. However, the first-order degradation rate increased approximately 20% when Na₂SO₄ was added as supporting electrolyte, reaching a degradation rate of 1.16 h^-1 with a power consumption that was approximately 70% lower.

Oxidative degradation of gentamicin present in water by an electro-Fenton process and biodegradability improvement

In the context of environmental protection, where there is a need to develop effective operations for carrying out appropriate treatment of polluted water by pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the present study aims at evaluating the degradation for gentamicin through electro-Fenton (EF) operation, through taking into consideration the effect of several parameters of experimental in the process, namely, the concentration of initial gentamicin, the applied current and the Fe+2 (II) quantities. The (EF) operation employed involves a carbon-felt as cathode and platinum as anode at pH 3. Studies for the gentamicin kinetics is monitored by HPLC giving a pseudo-first order reaction following by a chemical oxygen demand, with a reached degree of mineralization 96% after of four hours of treatment through current 100 mA/cm2 with 0.1 mM of Fe+2. We find that the degradation for molecule of gentamicin is accompanied by an augmentation of the biodegradability, assesse through the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) on chemical oxygen demand (COD) ratio, that augmentation from 0 to 0.41 before treatment after 30 min for EF treatment, showing that there is potential for conjugation of the EF process and the biological process. Furthermore, the by-products have been identified on the basis of HPLC-MS/MS results.

Metronidazole removal by means of a combined system coupling an electro-Fenton process and a conventional biological treatment: By-products monitoring and performance enhancement

In order to mineralize Metronidazole (MTZ), a process coupling an electro-Fenton pretreatment and a biological degradation was implemented. A mono-compartment batch reactor containing a carbon-felt cathode and a platinum anode was employed to carry out the electro-Fenton pretreatment of MTZ. A total degradation of MTZ (100 mg L^-1) was observed at 0.07 mA.cm^-2 after only 20 min of electrolysis. Yet, after 1 and 2 h of electrolysis, the mineralization level remained low (16.2% and 32% respectively), guaranteeing a significant residual organic content for further biological treatment. LCMS/MS was used to determine the intermediates by-products and hence to propose a plausible degradation pathway. An increase from 0 to 0.44 and 0.6 for 1 and 2 h of electrolysis was observed for the BOD₅/COD ratio. Thus, from 1 h of electro-Fenton pretreatment, the electrolysis by-products were considered biodegradable. A biological treatment of the electrolysis by-products after 1 and 2 h was then realized. The mineralization yields reached very close values, about 84% for 1 and 2 h of electrolysis after 504 h of biological treatment, namely close to 89% for the overall process, showing the pertinence of the proposed coupled process.

Reactive oxygen and iron species monitoring to investigate the electro-Fenton performances. Impact of the electrochemical process on the biodegradability of metronidazole and its by-products

In this study, the monitoring of reactive oxygen species and the regeneration of the ferrous ions catalyst were performed during electro-Fenton (EF) process to highlight the influence of operating parameters. The removal of metronidazole (MTZ) was implemented in an electrochemical mono-compartment batch reactor under various ranges of current densities, initial MTZ and ferrous ions concentrations, and pH values. It was found that under 0.07 mA cm^-2, 0.1 mM of ferrous ions and pH = 3, the efficiency of 100 mg L^-1 MTZ degradation and mineralization were 100% within 20 min and 40% within 135 min of electrolysis, respectively. The highest hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical concentrations, 1.4 mM and 2.28 mM respectively, were obtained at 60 min electrolysis at 0.07 mA cm^-2. Improvement of the biodegradability was reached from 60 min of electrolysis with a BOD₅/COD ratio above 0.4, which was reinforced by a respirometric study, that supports the feasibility of coupling electro-Fenton and biological treatment for the metronidazole removal.

Improving biodegradability of soil washing effluents using anodic oxidation

In this work, a combination of electrochemical and biological technologies is proposed to remove clopyralid from Soil Washing Effluents (SWE). Firstly, soil washing was carried out to extract clopyralid from soil. After that, four different anodes-Ir-MMO, Ru-MMO, pSi-BDD and Carbon Felt (CF)-were evaluated in order to increase the biodegradability of the SWE. CF was selected because was the only one able to transform the pesticide to a more biodegradable compounds without completely mineralizing it. Finally, biological oxidation tests were performed to determine the aerobic biodegradability of the SWE generated. From the obtained results, it was observed that at the beginning of the electrolysis the toxicity slightly increased and the biodegradability decreases. However, for electric current charges over 2.5 A·h dm^-3 the toxicity drastically decreased, showing an EC₅₀ of 143 mg L^-1, and the BOD₅/COD ratio increased from 0.02 to 0.23.

Sulfamethazine removal by means of a combined process coupling an oxidation pretreatment and activated sludge culture - preliminary results

A coupled electrochemical process and biological treatment was used to remove a biorecalcitrant antibiotic: sulfamethazine (SMT). The pretreatment was performed in a home-made flow cell involving graphite felt as a working electrode at potentials of 1 and 1.6 V/saturated calomel electrode (SCE); it was followed by a biological process involving activated sludge purchased from a local wastewater treatment plant. Activated sludge cultures of pretreated and non-pretreated SMT solution were carried out for 3 weeks, and different parameters were monitored, especially total organic carbon (TOC) and SMT concentrations. high-performance liquid chromatography results revealed that the target molecule was not assimilated by activated sludge. However, and confirming the improvement previously observed for the biological oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand (BOD₅/COD) ratio, from 0.08 before electrolysis to 0.58 after electrolysis, a pretreatment step in oxidation at 1.6 V/SCE led to a fast decrease of TOC during the subsequent biological treatment, since the mineralization yields increased from 10% for a non-pretreated SMT solution to 76.6% after electrolysis in oxidation (1.6 V/SCE), confirming the efficiency of coupling the electro-oxidation process with a biological treatment for the mineralization of SMT. Moreover, when the electrolysis was performed at 1 V/SCE, no biodegradation was observed, underlining the importance of the electrochemical pretreatment.

Direct and indirect electrochemical reduction prior to a biological treatment for dimetridazole removal

Two different electrochemical reduction processes for the removal of dimetridazole, a nitroimidazole-based antibiotic, were examined in this work. A direct electrochemical reduction was first carried out in a home-made flow cell in acidic medium at potentials chosen to minimize the formation of amino derivatives and then the formation of azo dimer. Analysis of the electrolyzed solution showed a total degradation of dimetridazole and the BOD₅/COD ratio increased from 0.13 to 0.24. An indirect electrochemical reduction in the presence of titanocene dichloride ((C₅H₅)₂TiCl₂), which is used to reduce selectively nitro compounds, was then investigated to favour the formation of amino compounds over hydroxylamines and then to prevent the formation of azo and azoxy dimers. UPLC-MS/MS analyses showed a higher selectivity towards the formation of the amino compound for indirect electrolyses performed at pH 2. To confirm the effectiveness of the electrochemical reduction, a biological treatment involving activated sludge was then carried out after direct and indirect electrolyses at different pH. The enhancement of the biodegradability was clearly shown since mineralization yields of all electrolyzed solutions increased significantly.

A flexible magnesium silicate coated electrospun fiber adsorbent for high-efficiency removal of a toxic cationic herbicide

A novel magnesium silicate/PAN composite electrospun fiber adsorbent was prepared and systematically investigated for the removal of the cationic herbicide diquat.

The electro/Fe3+/peroxydisulfate (PDS) process coupled to activated sludge culture for the degradation of tetracycline

The removal of tetracycline (TC) by electro/Fe³⁺/peroxydisulfate process combined to the biological treatment is reported in this study. Effect of current density, peroxydisulfate (PDS) concentration, Fe³⁺ ions concentration and initial tetracycline concentration were investigated. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of TC increased with increasing current density and decreases with tetracycline initial concentration. This effect is attributed to the competition of TC and electrogenerated intermediate compounds for the consumption of oxidizing SO₄^- radicals. The TC degradation efficiency was improved significantly when the PDS and Fe³⁺ concentrations increased from 1 to 10 mM and 1-2 mM, respectively. Above 10 mM PDS and 2 mM Fe³⁺ concentrations, a decrease of TC degradation efficiency was observed. The optimal operating conditions were: 2 mM Fe³⁺, 0.06 mM TC, 10 mM PDS concentrations and 40 mA cm^-2 current density. Under these conditions a total degradation of TC within only 40 min of reaction time and 98% of mineralization yield after 3 h electrolysis were obtained. The biodegradability of the solution after electro/Fe³⁺/peroxydisulfate pre-treatment showed that BOD₅/COD ratio increased from 0.00 initially to 0.42, 0.46 and 0.83 after 4 h, 5 h and 6 h, respectively, namely above the limit of biodegradability (0.4). The enhancement of biodegradability initially from 0.00 to 0.42 and 0.46 after 4 h and 5 h of electrolysis respectively, was confirmed by the biological treatment, since 77.51% and 92.54% of the dissolved organic carbon was removed respectively by coupling Electro/Fe^3 +/PDS pre-treatment and a biological treatment.

Removal of hydrophobic organic pollutants from soil washing/flushing solutions: A critical review

The release of hydrophobic organoxenobiotics such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons or polychlorobiphenyls results in long-term contamination of soils and groundwaters. This constitutes a common concern as these compounds have high potential toxicological impact. Therefore, the development of cost-effective processes with high pollutant removal efficiency is a major challenge for researchers and soil remediation companies. Soil washing (SW) and soil flushing (SF) processes enhanced by the use of extracting agents (surfactants, biosurfactants, cyclodextrins etc.) are conceivable and efficient approaches. However, this generates high strength effluents containing large amount of extracting agent. For the treatment of these SW/SF solutions, the goal is to remove target pollutants and to recover extracting agents for further SW/SF steps. Heterogeneous photocatalysis, technologies based on Fenton reaction chemistry (including homogeneous photocatalysis such as photo-Fenton), ozonation, electrochemical processes and biological treatments have been investigated. Main advantages and drawbacks as well as target pollutant removal mechanisms are reviewed and compared. Promising integrated treatments, particularly the use of a selective adsorption step of target pollutants and the combination of advanced oxidation processes with biological treatments, are also discussed.

Partial degradation of levofloxacin for biodegradability improvement by electro-Fenton process using an activated carbon fiber felt cathode

Solutions of 500 mL 200 mg L(-1) fluoroquinolone antibiotic levofloxacin (LEVO) have been degraded by anodic oxidation (AO), AO with electrogenerated H2O2 (AO-H2O2) and electro-Fenton (EF) processes using an activated carbon fiber (ACF) felt cathode from the point view of not only LEVO disappearance and mineralization, but also biodegradability enhancement. The LEVO decay by EF process followed a pseudo-first-order reaction with an apparent rate constant of 2.37×10(-2)min(-1), which is much higher than that of AO or AO-H2O2 processes. The LEVO mineralization also evidences the order EF>AO-H2O2>AO. The biodegradability (BOD5/COD) increased from 0 initially to 0.24, 0.09, and 0.03 for EF, AO-H2O2 and AO processes after 360 min treatment, respectively. Effects of several parameters such as current density, initial pH and Fe(2+) concentration on the EF degradation have also been examined. Three carboxylic acids including oxalic, formic and acetic acid were detected, as well as the released inorganic ions NH4(+), NO3(-) and F(-). At last, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to identify about eight aromatic intermediates formed in 60 min of EF treatment, and a plausible mineralization pathway for LEVO by EF treatment was proposed.

Degradation of enoxacin antibiotic by the electro-Fenton process: Optimization, biodegradability improvement and degradation mechanism

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the electro-Fenton process on the removal of a second generation of fluoroquinolone, enoxacin. The electrochemical reactor involved a carbon-felt cathode and a platinum anode. The influence of some experimental parameters, namely the initial enoxacin concentration, the applied current intensity and the Fe(II) amount, was examined. The degradation of the target molecule was accompanied by an increase of the biodegradability, assessed from the BOD5 on COD ratio, which increased from 0 before treatment until 0.5 after 180 min of electrolysis at 50 mg L(-1) initial enoxacin concentration, 0.2 mmol L(-1) Fe(II) concentration and 300 mA applied current intensity. TOC and COD time-courses were also evaluated during electrolysis and reached maximum residual yields of 54% and 43% after 120 min of treatment, respectively. Moreover, a simultaneous generation of inorganic ions (fluorides, ammonium and nitrates) were observed and 3 short chain carboxylic acids (formic, acetic and oxalic acids) were identified and monitored during 180 min of electrolysis. By-products were identified according to UPLC-MS/MS results and a degradation pathway was proposed.

Removal of a mixture tetracycline-tylosin from water based on anodic oxidation on a glassy carbon electrode coupled to activated sludge

The purpose of this study was first to examine the electrochemical oxidation of two antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and tylosin (Tylo), considered separately or in mixture, on a glassy carbon electrode in aqueous solutions; and then to assess the relevance of such electrochemical process as a pre-treatment prior to a biological treatment (activated sludge) for the removal of these antibiotics. The influence of the working potential and the initial concentration of TC and Tylo on the electrochemical pre-treatment process was also investigated. It was noticed that antibiotics degradation was favoured at high potential (2.4 V/ saturated calomel electrode (SCE)), achieving total degradation after 50 min for TC and 40 min for Tylo for 50 mg L(-1) initial concentration, with a higher mineralization efficiency in the case of TC. The biological oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD5)/Chemical oxygen demand (COD) ratio increased substantially, from 0.033 to 0.39 and from 0.038 to 0.50 for TC and Tylo, respectively. Regarding the mixture (TC and Tylo), the mineralization yield increased from 10.6% to 30.0% within 60 min of reaction time when the potential increased from 1.5 to 2.4 V/SCE and the BOD5/COD ratio increased substantially from 0.010 initially to 0.29 after 6 h of electrochemical pre-treatment. A biological treatment was, therefore, performed aerobically during 30 days, leading to an overall decrease of 72% of the dissolved organic carbon by means of the combined process.

Efficient photocatalytic degradation of acid fuchsin in aqueous solution using separate porous tetragonal-CuFe2O4 nanotubes

To develop a new promising magnetic photocatalyst, homogeneous tetragonal-CuFe2O4 (t-CuFe2O4) nanotubes were successfully synthesized via the electrospinning technique followed by heating treatment. The detailed investigation of chemical phase and microstructure reveals that the obtained samples are inversely spinel CuFe2O4 nanotubes with an average diameter of about 272±2nm, which are assembled by numerous CuFe2O4 single crystal nanoparticles with regular polyhedron structure and possess a very outstanding porous feature. Furthermore, element mapping, UV-vis adsorption spectrum, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, and magnetic hysteresis loop indicate that these t-CuFe2O4 nanotubes have uniform component distribution, strong light response in the range of 200 nm-800 nm, considerable specific surface area of 12.8 m(2)/g and porosity of 15.5 nm, and enough magnetization of about 18 emu/g. Therefore, the t-CuFe2O4 nanotubes show an excellent catalytic activity and durability for the photodecomposition of acid fuchsin dye in aqueous solution under a simulated sunlight source. Furthermore, these CuFe2O4 nanotubes could be acted as an eco-friendly and recyclable photocatalyst because they can be efficiently separated from the residual solution. Finally, a mechanism is presented for the significant photocatalytic performance of the porous CuFe2O4 nanotubes.

Indirect electroreduction as pretreatment to enhance biodegradability of metronidazole

The removal of metronidazole, a biorecalcitrant antibiotic, by coupling an electrochemical reduction with a biological treatment was examined. Electroreduction was performed in a home-made flow cell at -1.2V/SCE on graphite felt. After only one pass through the cell, analysis of the electrolyzed solution showed a total degradation of metronidazole. The biodegradability estimated from the BOD5/COD ratio increased from 0.07 to 0.2, namely below the value usually considered as the limit of biodegradability (0.4). In order to improve these results, indirect electrolysis of metronidazole was performed with a titanium complex known to reduce selectively nitro compounds into amine. The catalytic activity of the titanium complex towards electroreduction of metronidazole was shown by cyclic voltammetry analyses. Indirect electrolysis led to an improvement of the biodegradability from 0.07 to 0.42. To confirm the interest of indirect electroreduction to improve the electrochemical pretreatment, biological treatment was then carried out on activated sludge after direct and indirect electrolyses; different parameters were followed during the culture such as pH, TOC and metronidazole concentration. Both electrochemical processes led to a more efficient biodegradation of metronidazole compared with the single biological treatment, leading to an overall mineralization yield for the coupling process of 85%.

Review of advances in the thin layer chromatography of pesticides: 2008-2010

Techniques and applications of thin layer chromatography (planar chromatography) for the separation, detection, qualitative and quantitative determination, and preparative isolation of pesticides and their metabolites and other related compounds are reviewed for the period from November 1, 2008 to November 1, 2010. Analyses are described for a variety of samples types and pesticide classes. In addition to references on residue analysis, studies such as pesticide structure-retention relationships, identification and characterization of plant pesticides and synthesized pesticides, metabolism, degradation, mobility, identification of biomarkers for detection of herbicide effects in plants, and lipophilicity are covered.