Treatment of two insecticides in an electrochemical Fenton system

The ability of an electrochemical Fenton system to degrade the organophosphorous insecticides malathion and methyl parathion was studied. A combination of hydrogen peroxide and electrochemically-generated iron was found to be successful in degrading the two insecticides, and optimization of the system was pursued. Augmentation with near UV light at an intensity of 1.67 x 10(17) quanta/sec and centered at a wavelength of 370 nm improved the degradation of malathion at low iron concentrations but did not affect other treatments. Adding the hydrogen peroxide slowly over the course of treatment rather than all at once at the beginning of each treatment did, however, greatly improve the system. Removal efficiencies of 98.0% or greater were achieved for both pesticides.