Effects of water matrices on the removal of oxytetracycline antibiotic and total organic carbon (TOC) using four different oxidation processes

Abstract

• Evaluation of the four oxidation processes for OTC and TOC removal. • The effects of water matrices on the removal experiments were evaluated. • All four OPs achieved approximately 99% OTC degradation within 30 min. • The photo-Fenton reaction exhibited the highest OTC and TOC removal rates. Antibiotic compounds are actively discharged into aquatic environments through wastewater, potentially contributing to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria and associated health issues. Oxidation processes (OPs), including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), have gained attention as promising methods for removing antibiotics from wastewater. In this study, we comprehensively compared the efficiencies of removing oxytetracycline (OTC) and total organic carbon (TOC) by four OPs. These processes include three AOPs: the ozone/hydrogen peroxide process (O 3 /H 2 O 2 ), photo-Fenton reaction (Fe/H 2 O 2 /UV), and Fenton reaction (Fe/H 2 O 2 ), and ozonation (O 3 ) as a conventional OP. To evaluate the effects of different water matrices, the degradation experiments were conducted using ultrapure water and actual wastewater. All four OPs achieved over 99% OTC degradation within 15 minutes of the experiment. The photo-Fenton reaction exhibited the highest TOC removal rates (66% for ultrapure water and 74% for actual wastewater) after 210 minutes. Conversely, ozonation resulted in the lowest TOC removal rates (7% for ultrapure water and 10% for actual wastewater). Therefore, this study suggests that the photo-Fenton reaction may be most suitable for degrading OTC and removing TOC from wastewater.