Abstract
The photochemical degradation of norfloxacin (NOR) and oxytetracycline (OTC) was investigated under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The results indicated that both NOR and OTC can be degraded, whereas the reaction rates decreased with increasing concentration of NOR and OTC. The degradation rates of NOR and OTC (5 μM) were 0.0256 min−1 and 0.0140 min−1. Acidic conditions inhibited the degradation of NOR; however, alkaline conditions promoted the degradation of NOR. Meanwhile, the degradation of OTC was promoted by alkaline conditions but hardly affected by acidic conditions. In real water, the degradation of NOR was slower than that in ultrapure water, whereas the degradation of OTC was faster in real water. NOR produced five degradation products, with pathways mainly comprising hydroxylation and defluorination. OTC produced three degradation products, with its degradation pathways mainly consisting of deep oxidation, dehydration, and secondary alcohol oxidation. During the UV photolysis process, the mineralization rates of NOR and OTC (5 μM) were 9.83% and 6.87% after 60-min irradiation. This work can provide a theoretical basis for understanding the migration and transformation behavior of antibiotics in the water environment.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41403101), Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province (20190303092SF), Department of Education of Jilin Province (JJKH20180612KJ), and Jilin Development and Reform Commission (2019C056-6).
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Honghai Xue carried out the experiments and wrote the manuscript. Ming Li designed the experiments and sampled the real water, Binshuo Liu interpreted MS spectra of transformation products, Qingling Meng revised the manuscript draft and the final version of the submitted manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Xue, H., Li, M., Liu, B. et al. Photochemical degradation kinetics and mechanisms of norfloxacin and oxytetracycline. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 8258–8265 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11181-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11181-5