Treatment of pharmaceutically active compounds by electrooxidation using boron doped diamond and platinum anodes

Abstract

Clean and hygiene water is a critical environmental issue that touches the life of every human being. In recent years, presence of some pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites in surface and ground water has become a potential health risk to human beings. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are prescribed for muscle pain and inflammatory rheumatic disorders. Ketoprofen one of the NSAIOs, is categorized as a pharmaceutically active compound which resists both the abiotic and biotic degradation. Similarly, P-blockers are a class of drugs used for various indications particularly to control high blood pressure, anti-angina and cardiovascular diseases. One among the P-blockers, atenolol is most toxic to humans and aquatic organisms. The presence of both ketoprofen and atenolol in ground water has been reported at concentrations up to 10 figlL. A bench scale study was carried out to treat synthetically prepared pharmaceutical compounds (ketoprofen and atenolol) contaminated water in lower concentrations (fig/I) using boron doped diamond (BOD) and platinum anodes. The results were explained in terms of in situ generated of hydroxyl radical COH), peroxodisulfate (S20t), and active chlorine species (CI2, ocr and HOCI). The physisorbed 'OH on BOD was observed to trigger the combustion of pollutant molecules in to CO2 and H20. The BOD anode was found to be effective in the presence ofNa2S04 whereas Pt yields better removal in the presence of NaCI. The influence of electrolyte pH on the mineralization of ketoprofen molecules was found to be insignificant.