Treatment and Toxicity of Some Pharmaceuticals Such as Oxytetracycline and Sulfamethoxazole in Advanced Membrane Processes - Abstract
In this study, the toxicity of a pharmaceutical industry wastewater was investigated by using six different trophic levels (four bacteria, a yeast, a mold, an algae a crustacean and a fish). The bacteria were Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio fischeri, and Methane Archae Bacteria. The algae was Chlorella sp, the yeast was Candida sp, the fungi was Aspergillus, the crustacean was Daphnia magna and the fish was Lepistes sp.. Furthermore biodegradability and bioaccumulation tests were performed with two parmaceutical pollutants. The toxicity of this wastewater originated from its high sulfamethoxazole and oxytetracycline concentrations. This wastewater was treated by a reverse osmosis membrane reactor. The effects of increasing pressure on the rejections and recoveries of sulfamethoxazole and oxytetracycline was studied. Furthermore ,the effects of pH and temperature variations on the permeate yield was studied.The reverse osmosis reactor stability was not affected by pH, temperature and pressure increase. The toxicity of pharmaceutical industry wastewater decreased completely in the permeate, the biodegradability of the wastewater increased and it’s bioaccumulative properties disappered.