Dexamethasone degradation in aqueous medium by a thermally activated persulfate system: Kinetics and transformation products

• Published in: Journal of water process engineering 2022-10, Vol.49, p.103134, Article 103134
• Main Authors: Arvaniti, Olga S., Ioannidi, Alexandra Α., Politi, Angeliki, Miserli, Kleopatra, Konstantinou, Ioannis, Mantzavinos, Dionissios, Frontistis, Zacharias
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Degradation pathway; Dexamethasone; Heat-activated persulfate; Kinetics; Micropollutants; Sulfate radicals
• ISSN: 2214-7144; 2214-7144
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2022.103134

Dexamethasone (DEX) is a synthetic steroid hormone that, owing to its endocrine disruptive effects, has the potential to be detrimental. DEX must be successfully removed during drinking water treatment to preserve human and aquatic animals' health. This study investigates the thermally activated persulfate (TAP) process for the efficient decomposition of DEX. The effectiveness of several variables such as pH, persulfate dose, DEX concentration, reaction temperature, and water matrices was studied. Removal of 500 μg/L DEX reached 100 % by using 100 mg/L of persulfate in ultrapure water (pH = 7) at 50 °C, within 45 min of reaction time. DEX removal usually followed exponential decay. The removal efficiency of DEX in the TAP process was pH-dependent, as 61 % of DEX was removed at a pH value of 9. In contrast, complete degradation was achieved under acidic and near neutral conditions. Moreover, environmentally relevant degradation experiments showed that, in principle, the presence of bicarbonate ions and humic acid had a negative effect on DEX decomposition by reducing the percentage removal of the target compound by >50 %. Six transformation products derived from DEX oxidation were identified using high-resolution LC-MS. TAP system could be proposed as a promising application for removing steroid hormones n real water matrices after process optimization in real conditions. [Display omitted] •Complete Dexamethasone removal was achieved in neutral and alkaline conditions.•Humic acid and carbonates decreased the decomposition of Dexamethasone.•Both sulfate and hydroxyl radicals participated in Dexamethasone destruction.•Six transformation products identified from Dexamethasone oxidation.