Anaerobic treatment performance in presence of pharmaceutically active compounds

Abstract

Based on the occurrences of caffeine (CAF), gliclazide (GCZ) and prazosin (PRZ) in existing aerobic treatment processes as well as their persistency and potential risks to the environment, it is desirable to explore an alternative process to ensure complete removal of these compounds. Anaerobic process is widely known for its capability to efficiently degrade organic substrates present in wastewater, making it a viable option for the treatment of pharmaceutically active compounds. This study aims to examine the anaerobic treatment performance in the presence of pharmaceutical compounds. A batch experiment was conducted to assess the performance using synthetic wastewater and anaerobic digested sludge as inoculum at mesophilic condition of 37°C. Pharmaceutical analysis was then carried out using liquid chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (LC-ToF-MS) instrument. Results shown that the anaerobic treatment performance was not affected in the presence of the three compounds. Overall, removal performance of the pharmaceutical compounds in descending order is PRZ > CAF > GCZ.