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Antibiotics are extensively used in human medicine, aquaculture, and animal husbandry, leading to the release of antimicrobial resistance into the environment. This contributes to the rapid spread of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs), posing a significant threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems. Conventional wastewater treatment methods often fail to eliminate ARGs, prompting the adoption of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to address this growing risk. The study investigates the efficacy of visible light-driven photocatalytic systems utilizing two catalyst types (TiO2-Pd/Cu and g-C3N4-Pd/Cu), with a particular emphasis on their effectiveness in eliminating blaTEM, ermB, qnrS, tetM. intl1, 16 S rDNA and 23 S rDNA through photocatalytic ozonation and peroxone processes. Incorporating O3 into photocatalytic processes significantly enhances target removal efficiency, with the photocatalyst-assisted peroxone process emerging as the most effective AOP. The reemergence of targeted contaminants following treatment highlights the pivotal importance of AOPs and the meticulous selection of catalysts in ensuring sustained treatment efficacy. Furthermore, Polymerase Chain Reaction-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analysis reveals challenges in eradicating GC-rich bacteria with TiO2 and g-C3N4 processes, while slight differences in Cu/Pd loadings suggest g-C3N4-based ozonation improved antibacterial effectiveness. Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis highlights the efficacy of the photocatalyst-assisted peroxone process in treating diverse samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfactants after their use are discharged into aquatic ecosystems. These compounds may be harmful to fauna and flora in surface waters or can be toxic for microorganisms of the activated sludge or biofilm in WWTP. In order to determine effectiveness of different advanced oxidation processes on the degradation of surfactants, in this study the degradation of anionic surfactants in aqueous solution using photolysis by 254 nm irradiation and by advanced oxidation process in a H2O2/UVC system was investigated. Two representatives of anionic surfactants, linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (LAS-R11–14) and ether carboxylic derivate (EC-R12–14E10) were tested. The influence of pH, initial surfactant concentration and dose of hydrogen peroxide on the degradation was also studied. Results show outstanding effectiveness of the H2O2/UVC system in the removal of surfactant from aqueous solutions.

This paper presents an overview of textile wastewater treatment by catalytic ozonation, highlighting the parameters of the process and accompanying mechanisms. Since more than 800,000 tons of dyes are produced annually and thousands of cubic meters of highly polluted textile wastewater have been emitted into the environment every day, this issue has become an environmental concern. Due to the high oxidative potential of ozone (2.08 V) and hydroxyl radical (2.80 V), the main reactive species in catalytic ozonation, the burdensome organic pollutants, including textile dyes, can be successfully decomposed. The paper shows the main groups of catalysts, emphasizing novel structural, nano-structured, and functionalized materials. The examples of catalytic ozonation in the industrial application for real textile wastewater were specially highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible light-sensitized oxidation of micropollutants (MPs) in the presence of meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin photosensitizers was studied. In order to explore the role of type I (ROS generation) or type II (singlet oxygen) photooxidation, radical scavengers were used to obtain insight into the mechanism of photodegradation. It was revealed that singlet oxygen is the main ROS taking part in TPPS4- sensitized photooxidation of micropollutants. The interaction of MPs with 1O2 in deuterium oxide (D2O) was investigated by measuring the phosphorescence lifetime of 1O2. The rate constant (kq) for the total (physical and chemical) quenching of 1O2 by MPs was determined in a D2O buffer (pD 7, 9 and 10.8). The rate constants of singlet oxygen quenching and reaction with MPs were determined, and the rate constant of excited TPPS4 quenching by MPs was also estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]