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Degradation of naproxen in chlorination and UV/chlorine processes: kinetics and degradation products

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Abstract

Naproxen (NAP) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug which has been widely used and frequently detected in water environments. This study investigated the NAP degradation in the chlorination and UV/chlorine disinfection processes, which usually acted as the last barriers for water treatment. The results showed that both chlorination and UV/chlorine disinfection could remove NAP effectively. At various chlorine dosages (0.1~0.5 mM), the contributions of chlorination and reactive radicals to the degradation of NAP in the UV/chlorine process were calculated to be 50.5~56.9% and 43.1~49.5%, respectively. However, the reactive radicals dominated in NAP degradation in alkaline solutions, while chlorination dominated in acidic conditions. The HCO3− (10~50 mM) slightly inhibited, Cl− (10~50 mM) gradually promoted, and HA (1~5 mg/L) significantly reduced NAP degradation by UV/chlorine process. The degradation intermediates and products were obtained via high-performance liquid chromatography with QE-MS/MS; NAP was degraded by demethylation, acetylation, and dicarboxylic acid pathways during the chlorination and UV/chlorination processes.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (51578066 and 51608036) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2015ZCQ-HJ-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, Engineering Research Center for Water Pollution Source Control and Eco-remediation, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yongze Liu, Yuqing Tang, Yongxin Wu, Li Feng & Liqiu Zhang

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  1. Yongze Liu
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  2. Yuqing Tang
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  3. Yongxin Wu
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  4. Li Feng
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  5. Liqiu Zhang
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Correspondence to Li Feng.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Liu, Y., Tang, Y., Wu, Y. et al. Degradation of naproxen in chlorination and UV/chlorine processes: kinetics and degradation products. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 34301–34310 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04472-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04472-z

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