Degradation of a veterinary pharmaceutical product in water by electro-oxidation using a BDD anode

Abstract

The electrochemical oxidation (EO) treatment in water of Fantetra, a veterinary drug widely used in Chile, and its components: oxytetracycline hydrochloride, phtalylsulfathiazole and diphenhydramine, has been carried out at constant current using a BDD/Stainless steel system. First, solutions of each drug were electrolyzed following the decay of the absorbance of each compound and total organic carbon abatement. The mineralization of the Fantetra commercial formulation was also studied. An analysis of the degradation by-products was made by high performance liquid chromatography. Thus, during the degradation of each pharmaceutical by the electrochemical oxidation process, aliphatic carboxylic acids were detected prior to their complete mineralization to CO2 and nitrogen ions, while NO3- and NH4+ remain in the treated solution. This is an essential preliminary step towards the applicability of the EO processes for the treatment of wastewater containing pharmaceutical compounds.