Tratamiento con ozono de disoluciones acuosas de amoxicilina

Pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in effluents from treatment plants, in water bodies and ecosystems. Due to this situation and the potential hazard caused by the negative effects on the environment, they have been considered emerging pollutants. Antibiotics receive outstanding attention attributable to the occurrence of bacterial resistance. The ozone treatment efficient for the amoxicillin degradation has been recognized by several studies. However, it is debated the reaction byproducts toxicity, which may be a limitation for the ozone application. In this sense, the objective of this study was to establish the ozonation conditions for the treatment of model amoxicillin solutions, to evaluate the genotoxic activity and to propose an alternative treatment for the industrial wastewater. To evaluate the amoxicillin degradation, experiments were carried out at pH=7 during 10 minutes of reaction with a gaseous ozone concentration of 70 mg / L. More than 99% of the amoxicillin reduction was obtained in five minutes. In addition, an experimental design 22 was applied for contact times of 30 and 60 minutes at pH= 7 and 12. The presence of two reaction byproducts groups (S-1 and S-2) was observed. The degradation of the group S-2 was at 10 minutes, while S-1 remained under all treatment conditions. The results of the Ames test indicated that ozonized samples were not mutagenics. It is proposed as a treatment alternative for the industrial wastewater the operating conditions of pH between 7 and 8, a contact time of 30 minutes and a gaseous ozone concentration of 70 mg /L. The results showed the effective of ozone application under the experimental conditions evaluated.