| Abstrakt: |
Amoxicillin is a penicillin belonging to the group of beta-lactams commonly used in humans and veterinary medicine. From an environmental point of view, its indiscriminate use and improper waste disposal leads to water contamination with carcinogenic consequences and the development of antimicrobial resistance genes. Although there are wide-ranging studies on amoxicillin degradation by oxidation processes, there are no articles dealing with the amoxicillin degradation (AMX) present in expired drugs by the H2O2-alone process. We present an original study of AMX degradation and mineralization by H2O2-alone processes in basic and strongly basic media. The study was carried out in a batch mode with 1.50 g of expired commercial pharmaceutical formulation dissolved in 3.00 L of pure water (Type II). The initial concentration of H2O2was 0.26, 1.31, and 2.62 g L–1. The pH-values studied were 9.00, 11.00, and 13.00. By altering these parameters, we obtained a simple, easy to operate, and efficient process. A > 90% degradation was produced within only two minutes of reaction duration. In a pH 9 to 11, we obtained pseudo-first-order constants from 0.230 to 1.395 min–1and mineralization of 70% (total organic carbon) and 45% (total nitrogen). A process at pH 13 produced no mineralization due to excessive ROSscavenger competition for AMX degradation pathways. Adequate concentrations of H2O2and HO-are required to optimize the AMX degradation process. |
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