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Discharges from domestic, hospital, and pharmaceutical industry wastewater have been identified as the main sources of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Many studies focused on the removal of pharmaceuticals from hospitals and domestic wastewater. However, the number of studies that evaluated the treatment of real pharmaceutical wastewater and its detoxification after treatment is limited in literature. This study evaluated the treatment of real pharmaceutical wastewater by photo-Fenton oxidation using response surface methodology (RSM) and its toxicity with Daphnia magna according to process conditions after treatment. The removal efficiencies were read on 3D graphics to determine the optimum conditions more clearly. Diclofenac (DCF), Daphnia magna toxicity, total organic carbon (TOC), and color parameters were followed to evaluate the treatment efficiency of the photo-Fenton oxidation. The developed RSM model with the quartic formula was found to be suitable for TOC and color removal from pharmaceutical wastewater by solar photo-Fenton oxidation. At optimum conditions of pH 2,87, 0,297 g FeSO 4 /L, and 4,38 g H 2 O 2 /L for 101 min, >99 % DCF, 94 % TOC, and 81 % color removal efficiencies were achieved by photo-Fenton oxidation. Moreover, the toxicity of the raw wastewater, as indicated by an LD50 value of 20 %, was substantially reduced post-treatment, with the LD50 value increasing to 90 % following the application of photo-Fenton oxidation.
Öztürk et al. (Mon,) studied this question.