Photodegradation of the antineoplastic cyclophosphamide: A comparative study of the efficiencies of UV/H2O2, UV/Fe2+/H2O2 and UV/TiO2 processes. (February 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lutterbeck, Carlos Alexandre; Machado, Ênio Leandro; Kümmerer, Klaus
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 120(2015)
• Page Start: 538
• Page End: 546
• Publication Date: 2015-02
• Subjects: Cyclophosphamide -- Advanced oxidation -- Degradation -- Mineralization -- Transformation products -- Ecotoxicity; AOP advanced oxidation process -- CP cyclophosphamide -- DOC dissolved organic carbon -- DOM dissolved organic matter -- HPLC high performance liquid chromatography -- LC liquid chromatography -- mM mili-molar -- MS mass spectrometry -- nm nanometer -- TOC total organic carbon; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.08.076
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Highlights: AOPs were compared with respect to degree and kinetics of degradation and mineralization of CP. The treatments showed full elimination of CP in all the experiments. Complete mineralization was not achieved, indicating the formation of stable compounds. Transformation products were detected during two treatments. None of the transformation products was toxic against Vibrio fischeri . Abstract: Anticancer drugs are harmful substances that can have carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, genotoxic, and cytotoxic effects even at low concentrations. More than 50 years after its introduction, the alkylating agent cyclophosphamide (CP) is still one of the most consumed anticancer drug worldwide. CP has been detected in water bodies in several studies and is known as being persistent in the aquatic environment. As the traditional water and wastewater treatment technologies are not able to remove CP from the water, different treatment options such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are under discussion to eliminate these compounds. The present study investigated the degradation of CP by three different AOPs: UV/H2 O2, UV/Fe 2+ /H2 O2 and UV/TiO2 . The light source was a Hg medium-pressure lamp. Prescreening tests were carried out and afterwards experiments based on the optimized conditions were performed. The primary elimination of the parent compounds and the detection of transformation products (TPs) were monitored with LC–UV–MS/MS analysis, whereas the degree of mineralization was monitored by measuring the dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Ecotoxicological assays were carried out with the luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri . CP was completely degraded in all treatments and UV/Fe 2+ /H2 O2 was the fastest process, followed by UV/H2 O2 and UV/TiO2 . All the reactions obeyed pseudo-first order kinetics. Considering the mineralization UV/Fe 2+ /H2 O2 and UV/TiO2 were the most efficient process with mineralization degrees higher than 85%, whereas UV/H2 O2 achieved 72.5% of DOC removal. Five transformation products were formed during the reactions and identified. None of them showed significant toxicity against V. fischeri .