Zebrafish toxicity assessment of the photocatalysis-biodegradation of diclofenac using composites of TiO2 and activated carbon from Argania spinosa tree nutshells and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 27; no. 14; pp. 17258 - 17267
• Main Authors: Daou, Claude, Hamade, Aline, El Mouchtari, El Mountassir, Rafqah, Salah, Piram, Anne, Wong-Wah-Chung, Pascal, Najjar, Fadia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2020; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Pollution; Argania spinosa; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biodegradation; By products; Byproducts; Chemical Sciences; Danio rerio; Diclofenac; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Embryos; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Environmental Sciences; Life Sciences; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Nutshells; Photocatalysis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Public health; Research Article; Surgical implants; Titanium dioxide; Toxicity; Toxicity testing; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Zebrafish; Biodegradation; Zebrafish; Toxicity; ACP-TiO; Heterogeneous photocatalysis; Diclofenac
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08276-4

The occurrence and persistence of pharmaceutical products (PPs) in the environment have recently been well-documented and are a major concern for public health. Their incidence in aquatic ecosystems is the result of their direct release without any prior treatment or insufficient wastewater treatment. Therefore, an efficient and safe posttreatment process for removing PPs must be developed. In this study, we focused on the ability of photocatalysis or combined photocatalysis and biodegradation to effectively and safely remove diclofenac (DCF) and its by-products from water. The heterogeneous photocatalysis system was based on bio-sourced activated carbon obtained from Argania spinosa tree nutshells and Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (ACP-TiO 2 ), and biodegradation involved Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Toxicity tests were conducted with zebrafish embryos to evaluate the applicability of the treatment processes. The results showed that photocatalytic treatment with 0.1 mg/L of ACP-TiO 2 9% for 7.5 h is sufficient to eliminate DCF (50 mg L −1 ) and its by-products from water. Low levels of malformation (< 20%) were detected in zebrafish embryos treated with photocatalyzed DCF solutions at 1, 5, and 7 mg L −1 after 4 days of exposure. After 3 h of incubation, P. aeruginosa was found to reduce the toxicity of DCF (10 mg L −1 ) photocatalyzed for 2 and 4 h. Additional studies should be conducted to elucidate the biodegradation mechanism.