Toward Sustainable Water Treatment: Removal of Platinum-Based Antineoplastic Agents with Activated Biochars from Renewable Sources

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Pharmaceutical pollution of water bodies is a growing environmental concern, associated with ecotoxicological risks and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Among these contaminants, cytostatic drugs such as cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin stand out due to their high toxicity, persistence, and low removal in conventional wastewater treatment plants. This study developed sustainable adsorbent materials from renewable biomass, yeast waste (YW), cork powder (CP), old coffee ground (CG), and sugarcane bagasse (SB), converted into biochar (at 350°C) and into activated biochars with CO 2, water vapor, and their combination (at 600°C). Activated materials CGB-CO 2 -H 2 O and SBB-CO 2 -H 2 O achieved high adsorption capacities and similar surface properties, reaching complete removals at neutral pH in 30 min. The SBB-CO 2 -H 2 O was applied for competitive studies and application to real samples, obtaining removals of 100% (cisplatin, q e 377 μg/g), 99% (oxaliplatin, q e 389 μg/g), and 68% (carboplatin, q e 258 μg/g) with 0.6 g/L of adsorbent dose in 60 min. Economic analysis and the Path2Green metric (score 0.233) confirmed the low cost and environmental performance of the process, highlighting the potential of SB biochar as a green and efficient adsorbent for the removal of antineoplastics from surface waters.