Application of advance oxidation processes for elimination of carbamazepine residues in soils

The reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation has enlarged the risk of pharmaceutical compound accumulation in soil and their potential translocation to crops. Therefore, it is necessary to apply effective techniques to remove these pollutants from soil. This work was aimed to study the effectiveness of two advance oxidation processes (photocatalysis and ozonation) in the degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ) residues in three different soil matrices. Photocatalytic treatment was carried out by means of TiO₂ P25 Degussa under solar irradiation. Ozonation treatment was conducted using a hermetic glass chamber connected to an ozone generator. A comparison of two processes showed that TiO₂ photocatalytic treatment under solar irradiation was the most effective for CBZ removal after 48 h of treatment. In both treatments, degradation rates were lower as the organic matter (OM) content increased (soil S1 > soil S2 > soil S3). The results suggest that both techniques could be considered as remediation tools for the elimination of pharmaceutical residues from soils.