Removal of anthracycline cytostatics from aquatic environment: Comparison of nanocrystalline titanium dioxide and decontamination agents

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 10; p. e0223117
• Main Authors: Šťastný, Martin, Štengl, Václav, Štenglová-Netíková, Irena, Šrámová-Slušná, Michaela, Janoš, Pavel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 11.10.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adsorbents; Adsorption; Anthracycline; Anthracyclines; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic environment; Aqueous solutions; Binding sites; Biology and Life Sciences; Breast cancer; Cancer treatment; Chemical precipitation; Chemistry; Chromatography; Crystallization; Cytostatic Agents - chemistry; Cytostatic Agents - isolation & purification; Cytotoxicity; Deactivation; Decontamination; Decontamination - methods; Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy; Doxorubicin - analogs & derivatives; Doxorubicin - chemistry; Doxorubicin - isolation & purification; Engineering and Technology; Environmental impact; Fourier transforms; High performance liquid chromatography; Hydrolysis; Inactivation; Inorganic chemistry; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metabolites; Nanocomposites; Nanocrystals; Nanoparticles; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Organic chemistry; Oxidation; Particle Size; Pharmaceuticals; Photocatalysis; Physical Sciences; Pollutants; Reflectance; Research and Analysis Methods; Scientific imaging; Sodium hydroxide; Sodium Hydroxide - chemistry; Sodium hypochlorite; Sodium Hypochlorite - chemistry; Spectroscopy; Sulfates; Surface Properties; Titanium; Titanium - chemistry; Titanium dioxide; Urea; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification; Water treatment; Czech Republic
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223117

Anthracyclines are a class of pharmaceuticals used in cancer treatment have the potential to negatively impact the environment. To study the possibilities of anthracyclines (represented by pirarubicin and valrubicin) removal, chemical inactivation using NaOH (0.01 M) and NaClO (5%) as decontamination agents and adsorption to powdered nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) were compared. The titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were prepared via homogeneous precipitation of an aqueous solution of titanium (IV) oxy-sulfate (TiOSO4) at different amount (5-120 g) with urea. The as-prepared TiO2 samples were characterized by XRD, HRSEM and nitrogen physisorption. The adsorption process of anthracycline cytostatics was determined followed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and an in-situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) technique. It was found that NaClO decomposes anthracyclines to form various transformation products (TPs). No TPs were identified after the reaction of valrubicin with a NaOH solution as well as in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles. The best degree of removal, 100% of pirarubicin and 85% of valrubicin, has been achieved in a sample with 120 grams of TiOSO4 (TIT120) and TiO2 with 60 grams (TIT60), respectively.