Physicochemical and Advanced Oxidation Processes – A Comparison of Elimination Results of Antibiotic Compounds Following an MBR Treatment

The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment has become a subject of concern in recent years. A vast number of these compounds have been detected in sewage treatment plants (STP) effluents, surface waters and, less frequently, in ground and drinking water all over the world. Adverse effects caused by pharmaceuticals include aquatic toxicity, resistance development in pathogenic bacteria, genotoxicity and endocrine disruption. Nowadays, it is widely accepted that the main source of pharmaceutical pollution in the aquatic environment are STPs effluents. Therefore, the discharge of pharmaceutical residues with the effluents of STPs should be minimized as far as possible. Degradation of persistent organic pollutants such as pharmaceuticals in water and wastewater can be achieved using advanced treatment technologies such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs) in combination with advanced oxidation processes (AOPS). This paper evaluates the treatment of three antibiotics of large consumption rates worldwide (roxithromycin, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim) by MBR followed by different AOP-steps. The identification and quantification of the precursor compounds and degradation products observable during the different treatment steps applied were performed with liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS)