title: Occurrence of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide in aqueous environment and their removal by biological and abiotic wastewater treatment processes.
abstract: Cytostatic drug residues in the aqueous environment are of concern due to their possible adverse effects on non-target organisms. Here we report the occurrence and removal efficiency of cyclophosphamide (CP) and ifosfamide (IF) by biological and abiotic treatments including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Cyclophosphamide was detected in hospital wastewaters (14-22,000 ng L(-1)), wastewater treatment plant influents (19-27 ng L(-1)) and effluent (17 ng L(-1)), whereas IF was detected only in hospital wastewaters (48-6800 ng L(-1)). The highest removal efficiency during biological treatment (attached growth biomass in a flow through bioreactor) was 59 ± 15% and 35 ± 9.3% for CP and IF, respectively. Also reported are the removal efficiencies of both compounds from wastewater using hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), ozonation (O3) and/or UV, either individually or in combination with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydrodynamic cavitation did not remove CP and IF to any significant degree. The highest removal efficiencies: 99 ± 0.71% for CP and 94 ± 2.4% for IF, were achieved using UV/O3/H2O2 at 5 g L(-1) for 120 min. When combined with biological treatment, removal efficiencies were >99% for both compounds. This is the first report of combined biological and AOP treatment of CP and IF from wastewater with a removal efficiency >99%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marjeta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Česen
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kosjek
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laimou-Geraniou
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Hajdrihova 28, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kompare
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Hydraulic Machines, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 6, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Brane
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Širok
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lambropolou
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: ester.heath@ijs.si.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heath
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products; D019149:Bioreactors; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000032:analysis*; D007069:Ifosfamide / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D007069:Ifosfamide; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Biological treatment; Cytostatic; Hydrodynamic cavitation; Occurrence; Ozonation; UV irradiation