The widespread occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in aquatic
environment is raising worldwide concerns about potential adverse effects on aquatic
ecology and human health. Potassium permanganate (KMnO<sub>4</sub>), a powerful and
environmentally friendly oxidant currently used by utilities to address a range of issues, is
potentially effective for oxidative removal of PhACs. This study reports for the first
time on the oxidation of widely detected PhACs during water treatment with KMnO<sub>4</sub>.
Eighteen chemicals, covering several major classes of pharmaceuticals and
wastewater-derived micropollutants, were screened for potential reactivity with
permanganate. Results show that ten of the screened PhACs are either highly or moderately
reactive with KMnO<sub>4</sub>. Detailed kinetic studies were then performed for the most reactive
PhACs (results from carbamazepine oxidation are described in detail in this paper) to
determine basic kinetic parameters and evaluate the effects of important water quality
parameters (pH, temperature) and the presence of non-target water constituents (e.g., natural organic matter (NOM),
Fe<sup>2+</sup>, Mn<sup>2+</sup>, and etc.). The removal efficiency of carbamazepine in two utility source waters
treated with KMnO<sub>4</sub> was also tested and the results agree reasonably well with predictions
from the kinetic model parameterized using experiments conducted in deionized water at
much higher reagent concentrations. Several carbamazepine oxidation products were
identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and the proposed structures
for these intermediates confirmed an oxidation mechanism involving electrophilic attack at
the non-aromatic olefinic group in the central heterocyclic ring of carbamazepine. Includes 19 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 980 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 11/01/2008 |
