title: Detoxification and/or increase of the biodegradability of aqueous solutions of dimethoate by means of solar photocatalysis.
abstract: Different methods have been used to measure changes in biodegradability/toxicity of aqueous solutions of the pesticide Laition (a commercial formula of methidathion) when it is treated by means of TiO(2) photocatalysis: short time biological oxygen demand (BOD(st)) was used to determine the instantaneous biodegradability of the sample; BOD(5) was also chosen to determine biodegradability, employing in this case the manometric method; the BOD(5)/COD ratio was also calculated. Finally, the Zahn-Wellens test was employed to evaluate the long-term biodegradation of the effluents. The inhibition of the respiration of activated sludge in the presence of toxic pollutants was used to test the toxicity of the treated sample. An alternative method based on the decrease of BOD(5) of a very biodegradable mixture (glucose+glutamic acid) upon addition of the toxic solution was also employed. Similar trends were obtained with all methods and allowed us to distinguish between two periods: At the beginning of the reaction, there is a decrease in the concentration of dimethoate to reach complete abatement of this pesticide; this produces a nearly complete detoxification of the solution and a very significant increase of biodegradability (BOD(5)/COD ratio reached values close to 0.5 and important increase of BOD(5) and BOD(st) were observed). Beyond this point, slow mineralization is detected, but further improvement of the biodegradability cannot be achieved.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Textil y Papelera, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Alcoy, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell s/n, E-03801 Alcoy, Spain. aarques@txp.upv.es
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arques
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Amat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Ripoll
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vicente
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002384:Catalysis; D004117:Dimethoate / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity*; D049449:Luminescence; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D012996:Solutions; D014025:Titanium; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D012722:Sewage; D012996:Solutions; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D010100:Oxygen; D004117:Dimethoate