In this work, an analytical methodological study was carried out to determine the antimicrobials sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, as well as their metabolites, in hospital effluent. The determinations were conducted by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using a hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LC-QqLIT-MS). The data acquisition was made in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode, in which two SRM transitions were monitored to ensure that the target compounds were accurately identified by the information dependent acquisition (IDA) function. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 0.25 and 0.80 mg L À1 for sulfamethoxazole and 0.15 and 0.50 mg L À1 for trimethoprim. The linear range for the SMX was 0.8-100.0 mg L À1 and TMP was 0.5-100.0 mg L À1 on the basis of sixpoint calibration curves generated by means of linear regression analysis. The coefficients of the correlation were higher than 0.999, which ensured the linearity of the method. The average concentration of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim found in hospital effluent was 27.8 and 6.65 mg L À1 , respectively. The analytical methodology employed allowed two metabolites to be identified, N4-acetyl-sulfamethoxazole and ahydroxy-trimethoprim. Fragmentation pathways were proposed.

Production of high added value chemicals such as BTEX by means of catalytic fast pyrolysis of MDF residues is a promising and environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, as MDF is abundantly produced worldwide. Generation of toxic compounds during MDF pyrolyses was minimized with pre-treatments with yeasts or hot water resulting in a maximum removal of 87.9% of nitrogen compounds when water was used at 80 °C, for 3 h. Nickel-modified beta zeolites with 3 (Ni3B-H) and 5 wt% of nickel (Ni5B-H) were more efficient for the production of BTEX compounds (Ni3B-H: 39.35% and Ni5B-H: 38.65%) and reduction of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (Ni3B-H: 11.12% and Ni5B-H: 15.93%) when compared to pure beta zeolite. Non-catalytic pyrolysis resulted only in oxygenated compounds. These findings were related to the changes of the crystallographic sites of aluminum and then on acidic sites, as well as to the production of a bifunctional catalyst during reactions.

In this study, an investigation was carried out into the occurrence of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) in the effluent of the university hospital (HUSM) of the UFSM. The degradation of these antimicrobials by the electrocoagulation (EC) process was also examined, in both the aqueous solution and hospital effluent, and a study was conducted in order to identify the subproducts formed. The experiments were optimized through factorial planning and, also, checked by response surface methodology. The best conditions for EC (achieving 58.0% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction) were obtained by using 13 mA cm À2 , 500 mg L À1 of NaCl, and 30 mm of interelectrode distance. The quantification of SMX (27.8 mg L À1 ) and TMP (6.65 mg L À1 ) in the hospital effluent, and the identification of the degradation products were carried out through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry quadrupole linear and ion trapping with electrospray ionization (LC-ESI-MS/MS_QTrap). Removals of 88.0% (degradation only) and 33.0% (adsorption only) were achieved for aqueous solutions of SMX and TMP, respectively, under optimized conditions. In hospital effluent samples, fortified with additions of SMX and TMP, corresponding removals of 16.0% (degradation) and 28.0% (adsorption) were achieved. This suggests that the EC process is efficient in degrading SMX in aqueous solution, although the same was not the case with TMP. The degradation products of SMX were identified (m/z 256.0 and 288.5); however, only the latter is mentioned in the literature. Toxicological aspects were not considered in this study.

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Chromatographic procedures such as solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a fluorescence detector (SPE-HPLC-FLD), were carried out to determine the concentrations of the surfactant nonylphenol ethoxylate (9 ethylene oxide units, NP9EO) and its biodegradation product, 4-nonylphenol (NP), in samples collected from the wastewater treatment system at the University Hospital (HUSM) of the Federal University of Santa Maria. The results showed a high concentration of NP9EO in all the collected samples (0.075 - 4.12 mg L(-1)) and an almost complete absence of NP. In addition, electrocoagulation (EC) of NP9EO was carried out in aqueous solution and in the HUSM effluent. A NP9EO removal rate of 95 % was achieved from the aqueous solution, following a pseudo-first-order kinetics. Through LC-MS measurements in aqueous solutions, it was possible to determine the formation of short-chain nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPEO), such as nonyl-phenoxy acetic acid (NP1EC), after 30 min of EC. In the case of the HUSM wastewater, the NP9EO removal was 89 %, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) abatement was 26 %. A respirometric test was conducted to measure the increase of biodegradability during the EC and the aqueous samples were found to be less readily biodegradable before the 30-min period of electrocoagulation than after it had been completed.

In this study the occurrence of diclofenac and sub-products in effluent emerging from the University Hospital at the Federal University of Santa Maria was investigated. One metabolite was identified and, in aqueous solution, three degradation products. The quantification was conducted by means of HPLC-DAD, and the determination of metabolite and degradation products by LC-ESI-MS/MS-QTrap. For the HPLC-DAD method, a 70:30 mixture of methanol/sodium phosphate was used in isocratic mode. For the LC-ESI-MS/MS-QTrap determinations, a mobile phase, where phase A was an ammonium acetate solution 5 Â 10 À3 mol L À1 , and phase B was methanol (5 Â 10 À3 mol L À1 )/ ammonium acetate (9:1, v/v), on gradient mode. The LDs for the HPLC and LC-MS/ MS methods, respectively, were 2.5 and 0.02 mg L À1 , the LQs, 8.3 and 0.05 mg L À1 , and the linear range from 10 up to 2000 mg L À1 and 0.05 up to 10 mg L À1 . As expected, the LC-ESI-MS/MS-QTrap method was more sensitive and less laborious. The metabolite 4 0hydroxy-diclofenac was identified. Photolysis was used for the degradation studies and three products of diclofenac were identified (m/z of 214, 286 and 303) in aqueous solution. These results notwithstanding, no degradation products of diclofenac were found in the hospital effluent.Abbreviations: CE, collision energies; EPI, enhanced produced ion; LOQ, limits of quantification; 4 0 -OHD, 4 0 -hydroxy-diclofenac; PNEC, predicted environmental concentration; RQ, risk quotient 950Clean -Soil, Air, Water 2012, 40 (9), 950-957

The pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is a promising technology for obtaining renewable chemicals and fuels to replace fossil-based products. However, due to the complexity of the lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose molecules, a large variety of compounds are often formed, making commercial implementation difficult. The use of a catalyst during reactions has been recognized as one of the major improvements in pyrolysis, allowing the production of selected compounds. Moreover, the large number of available catalysts opens up a wide range of possibilities for controlling the reaction network. Zeolites, hierarchical zeolites, alkali and alkaline earth oxides, transition metals and carbonaceous materials, among others, have been investigated in the pyrolysis of a variety of biomasses. In addition, bifunctional catalysts play a role in pyrolysis, as well as the addition of plastics as hydrogen donors. This review aims to present and discuss in detail state-of-the-art catalytic pyrolysis, focusing on the relationships between the properties of the catalysts and the obtained products. A guideline for selecting catalysts for lignocellulosic biomass is also provided.

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