Advanced oxidation process (AOP) technologies are particularly useful for destroying small molecule contaminants that cannot be quantitatively removed through primary and secondary water treatment methods. Before implementation, however, the presence dissolved organic matter (DOM) and the variable alkalinity of real-world waste waters must be taken into account, because both are known scavengers of generated hydroxyl radicals (HO�) in AOP systems. As trace levels of antibiotics in water systems are of growing concern, the target of this study was to determine the effects of these two waste water constituents on the hydroxyl-radical-based deactivation of three classes of antibiotics. Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA) purchased from the International Humic Substance Society was used to model DOM, and carbonate (CO32-) was used to adjust alkalinity. Representative aminoglycoside, �-lactam, and macrolide antibiotic samples, in the presence and absence of DOM and CO32-, were oxidized using steady-state irradiation from either a60Co or 137Cs source. Bactericidal and bacteriostatic activities of the resulting solutions were screened using Staphylococcus aureus or Escherecia coli as appropriate. The number of radical oxidations required for deactivation of the compounds under these conditions was quantitatively determined.

Effects of dissolved organic matter and alkalinity on deactivation of antibiotics via AOP driven oxidations in water

247th National Meeting (2014)

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