Removal of pharmaceuticals by advanced treatment methods

The removal of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) remains a big challenge in water treatment in terms of public health. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has potential applications for the removal of EDCs from water. In this study, the efficiency of the nano TiO2 to degrade target EDCs under catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was examined at different operational conditions. Target compound analyzes were performed according to EPA methods. In the measurement of target pollutants, liquid liquid extraction and derivatization process was applied. The maximum removal of target pollutant was obtained with pH 6,8; ozone concentration 10 mg/L; catalyst dosage 0.050 g/L and showing the most treatment conditions respectively. In addition, the surface reaction mechanism of endocrine disrupting compound removal by catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation was investigated. The results showed that the catalyst can significantly enhance the removal of target compound. The 99.0 %, 88.3% ve 51.8% removal rates were obtained at photocatalytic ozonation, catalytic ozonation and sole ozonation, respectively. These results indicated that the process was favorable for engineering applications for removal of endocrine disrupting compounds such as steroid hormone and likely similar micro pollutants.