Degradation of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) and Toxicological Effects in Water by a Novel UV-based Advanced Oxidation Process

Contamination of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) have been a serious issue for drinking water consumer because various PPCPs shows high possibility to deleterious human health and they cannot be removed by the conventional water treatment process. Also, the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) accelerates the use of antiviral pills and they are transported into the water environment at high concentration. As the result, an effective treatment method that can eliminate PPCPs in drinking water is an urgent needed. A multi-barrier disinfection approach of chlorination and UV₂₅₄ radiation has been applied to water treatment plants, and a simultaneous application of chlorination and UV₂₅₄ (UV/Chlorine) is considered as a novel advanced oxidation technology because of free radical generation (OH•, Cl•, ClO• etc.). Based on the background, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a simultaneous application of chlorination and UV₂₅₄ (UV/Chlorine) for degradation of selected PPCPs i.e. favipirvir, a COVID-19 antiviral pill and ensulizole, a component in sunscreen. Results from this study could support the use of UV/chlorine in drinking water treatment plants worldwide to reduce health risk of drinking water consumer.