Recovery of Human Pharmaceutical Compounds from Hospital Wastewater by Advanced Oxidation Processes
Authors: J. Smith, A. Johnson, M. Lee, S. Kim
The presence of pharmaceutical compounds in hospital wastewater poses significant risks to aquatic ecosystems and human health. This study investigates the efficiency of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), specifically ozonation and Fenton oxidation, for the degradation of a mixture of pharmaceutical compounds commonly found in hospital effluents. Experiments were conducted at laboratory scale using synthetic wastewater spiked with representative pharmaceuticals. The effects of key operational parameters such as pH, oxidant dose, and reaction time were evaluated. Results demonstrated that both AOPs achieved high removal efficiencies (>90%) for most target compounds under optimized conditions. The degradation kinetics followed pseudo-first-order models, and the formation of transformation products was monitored. The study highlights the potential of AOPs as a viable tertiary treatment option for hospital wastewater, contributing to the reduction of pharmaceutical pollution in the environment.
