Photooxidation of p-Arsanilic Acid in Aqueous Solution by UV/Persulfate Process

Degradation of roxarsone in UV-based advanced oxidation processes: A comparative study

Organoarsenicals such as roxarsone (ROX) pose a great threat to the eco-environment and human health. Herein, the degradation of ROX via UV-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) including UV/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H₂O₂), UV/peroxydisulfate (UV/PDS), and UV/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) processes are comparatively investigated. The removal efficiency of ROX in the UV-based AOPs follows the order of UV/H₂O₂ >UV/PDS>UV/PMS at pH 7.0, while UV/PDS is the most effective process in reducing the total organic carbon (TOC). The second-order rate constants of ROX with hydroxyl radicals (^•OH) and sulfate radicals (SO₄^•-) are determined to be (2.71 ± 0.27)× 10⁹ and (7.68 ± 0.37)× 10⁸ M^-1s^-1, respectively. The degradation of ROX obeys the pseudo-first-order kinetics model, and the apparent rate constants (k) linearly increase with increasing the oxidants dosage from 0.10 to 1.0 mM. The solution pH (5.0-11.0) exhibits a limited effect on the oxidation of ROX in UV/H₂O₂ and UV/PDS processes, but a great enhancement is observed at pH 11.0 in UV/PMS process. Humic acid and bicarbonate obviously suppress the photodegradation of ROX. In addition, arsenic in ROX is mainly converted to As(V) in the three UV-based AOPs. Overall, this study provides essential information for the degradation of ROX via the traditional UV-based AOPs.

Efficient degradation of roxarsone and simultaneous in-situ adsorption of secondary inorganic arsenic by a combination of Co3O4-Y2O3 and peroxymonosulfate

Roxarsone (ROX), as one of aromatic organoarsenic compounds (AOCs), is extensively used in livestock industry, which tends to transform into high-toxic inorganic arsenic in environments. Herein, a bifunctional Co₃O₄-Y₂O₃, possessing extremely excellent catalytic and adsorption performance due to the synergy of Co₃O₄ and Y₂O₃, was designed and employed to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the elimination of ROX and the simultaneous in-situ adsorption of secondary inorganic arsenic, in which Co₃O₄ acted as the primary catalyst, and Y₂O₃ served as the main adsorbent. 50 μM (3.75 mg-As/L) of ROX was almost completely degraded, coupled with the conversion of As(III) to As(V) in the system of Co₃O₄-Y₂O₃ (0.2 g/L) and PMS (0.5 mM) within 15 min at initial pH 7. Meanwhile, > 99.3% of the secondary As(V) would be removed within 120 min. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) were identified to be ^•OH, SO₄^•-, and ¹O₂, which were responsible for the ROX degradation and the formation of As(V). Simultaneously, the produced As(V) were effectively adsorbed via the ligand/anion exchange with surface -OH and CO₃^2- anions of Co₃O₄-Y₂O₃. The possible degradation pathways of ROX were further proposed on the basis of the intermediates identification. Our findings may provide an insight into the degradation of AOCs and the simultaneous removal of secondary inorganic arsenic via the PMS activation with Co₃O₄-Y₂O₃.

Adsorption of p-Arsanilic Acid on Iron (Hydr)oxides and Its Implications for Contamination in Soils

Because of the diversification of industries in developing cities, the phenomenon of the simultaneous contamination of various kinds of pollutants is becoming common, and the environmental process of pollutants in multi-contaminated environmental mediums has attracted attention in recent years. In this study, p-arsanilic acid (ASA), a kind of organic arsenic feed additive that contains the arsenic group in a chemical structure, is used as a typical contaminant to investigate its adsorption on iron oxides and its implication for contaminated soils. The adsorption kinetics on all solids can be fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model well. At the same mass dosage conditions, the adsorption amount per unit surface area on iron oxides follows the order α-FeOOH > γ-Fe2O3 > α-Fe2O3, which is significantly higher than that for actual soil, because of the lower content of iron oxides in actual soil. Lower pH conditions favor ASA adsorption, while higher pH conditions inhibit its adsorption as a result of the electrostatic repulsion and weakened hydrophobic interaction. The presence of phosphate also inhibits ASA adsorption because of the competitive effect. Correlations between the amount of ASA adsorption in actual soil and the Fe2O3 content, total phosphorus content, arsenic content, and organic matter content of actual soil are also investigated in this work, and a moderate positive correlation (R2 = 0.630), strong negative correlation (R2 = 0.734), insignificant positive correlation (R2 = 0.099), and no correlation (R2 = 0.006) are found, respectively. These findings would help evaluate the potential hazard of the usage of organic arsenic feed additives, as well as further the understanding of the geochemical processes of contaminants in complicated mediums.

Capillary zone electrophoresis as a simple approach for the study of p-arsanilic acid transformation in the process of photolytic degradation

Arsenic aromatic compounds including p-arsanylic acid (pASA) are still widely used in a number of countries as the feed additives in animal breeding resulting in its entering the environment. Under the influence of oxidizing agents or UV radiation, pASA undergoes transformations leading to generation of inorganic arsenic species that are more mobile and toxic than organic ones. On the one hand, an approach based on the treatment of contaminated waters by UV irradiation seems perspective for their detoxification, but the feasibility of this approach depends on the composition of the products forming as a result of photodegradation. In the present work, a CZE was applied for the study of the pASA degradation process during stationary (308 nm) photolysis in the presence of Fe(III)-oxalate complex. A developed assay allowed controlling the parent compounds and also As-containing products of pASA degradation, presented mainly by arsenate and arsenite ions. It was found that the main inorganic derivatives of the pASA photolytic conversions are presented by arsenate and arsenite ions whose ratio depends on the initial amount of pASA and reaction conditions.