Potable water has become scarcer and more than 40% of the global population suffers due to lack of water. The demographic explosion of humanity over the last few decades and the unprecedented increase in the living standard lead the world society to difficult periods since the resources demand drastically increases. It is necessary the development of techniques that are capable to improve the water and wastewater treatment. Among the compounds found in superficial waters, the pharmaceuticals drag attention since some of them are endocrine disruptors and can interfere on the local biota even in low concentrations. Studies about the long-term effects of those compounds on human health and on the environment, are scare. Pharmaceuticals compounds, like the benzodiazepines, are widely prescribed. It was manufactured around 7.4 billion S-DDD (consumption in defined daily doses for statistical purposes) of benzodiazepines per year between 2004 and 2013 all over the world. The benzodiazepines are a class of medications that work in the central nervous system and are used for a variety of medical conditions (insomnia, anxiety, anesthesia, panic disorder, seizures, muscle relaxant, alcohol withdrawal). These compounds reach the water bodies because they are not completely metabolized by the human body and are excreted on the urine and also due to inappropriate waste disposal. Alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam, diazepam and carbamazepine are benzodiazepines which are not degraded by the traditional wastewater treatment, like the biological treatment. The advanced oxidation processes (AOP) are good alternatives to deal with those compounds. This research proposes to compare two AOP (TiO<sub>2</sub>/photocatalysis and UV/chlorine) in order to oxidize alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam, diazepam and carbamazepine, taking in account the produced by-products and their ecotoxicology.

Advanced oxidation of benzodiazepines compounds using TiO<sub>2</sub>/Photocatalysis and UV/Chlorine

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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Advanced oxidation of benzodiazepines compounds using TiO2/Photocatalysis and UV/Chlorine

Advanced oxidation of benzodiazepines compounds using TiO₂/Photocatalysis and UV/Chlorine