The efficiency of Al-Quds Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), which includes sequential elements as activated sludge, ultrafiltration, activated carbon column and reverse osmosis, to remove spiked ibuprofen, a non steroid anti inflammatory drug (NSAID), was investigated. Kinetic studies in pure water and in the activated sludge indicated that the drug was stable during one month of observation. Besides, the overall performance of the integrated plant showed complete removal of ibuprofen from wastewater. Activated carbon column, which was the last element in the sequence before the reverse osmosis system, yielded 95.7% removal of ibuprofen. Batch adsorptions of the drug by using either activated charcoal or composite micelle-clay system were determined at 25°C and well described by Langmuir isotherms. Octadecyltrimethylammonium (ODTMA) bromide and montmorillonite were used to prepare the micelle-clay adsorbent, for which the adsorption kinetics are much faster than activated charcoal. Results suggest that integrating clay-micelle complex filters within the existing WWTP may be promising in improving removal efficiency of the NSAID.

The efficiency of sequential advanced membrane technology wastewater treatment plant towards removal of a widely used non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) mefenamic acid was investigated. The sequential system included activated sludge, ultrafiltration by hollow fibre membranes with 100 kDa cutoff, and spiral wound membranes with 20 kDa cutoff, activated carbon and a reverse osmosis (RO) unit. The performance of the integrated plant showed complete removal of mefenamic acid from spiked wastewater samples. The activated carbon column was the most effective component in removing mefenamic acid with a removal efficiency of 97.2%. Stability study of mefenamic acid in pure water and Al-Quds activated sludge revealed that the anti-inflammatory drug was resistant to degradation in both environments. Batch adsorption of mefenamic acid by activated charcoal and a composite micelle (otadecyltrimethylammonium (ODTMA)-clay (montmorillonite) was determined at 25.0°C. Langmuir isotherm was found to fit the data with Qmax of 90.9 mg g(-1) and 100.0 mg g(-1) for activated carbon and micelle-clay complex, respectively. Filtration experiment by micelle-clay columns mixed with sand in the mg L(-1) range revealed complete removal of the drug with much larger capacity than activated carbon column. The combined results demonstrated that an integration of a micelle-clay column in the plant system has a good potential to improve the removal efficiency of the plant towards NSAID drugs such as mefenamic acid.

Commercial non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are considered as toxic to the environment since they induce side effects when consumed by humans or aquatic life. Ibuprofen is a member of the NSAID family and is widely used as an anti-inflammatory and painkiller agent. Photolysis is a potentially important method of degradation for several emerging contaminants, and individual compounds can undergo photolysis to various degrees, depending on their chemical structure. The efficiency oftitanium dioxide (TiO2) and photocatalysis was investigated for the removal of ibuprofen from the aquatic environment, and the performance of these different processes was evaluated. In heterogeneous photocatalysis, two experiments were carried out using TiO2 as (i) dispersed powder, and (ii) TiO2 immobilized on the active surface of commercial coated glass. The kinetics of each photoreaction was determined, and the identification of the photoproducts was carried out by liquid chromatography coupled with Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (LC-FTICR MS). The overall results suggest that the TiO2 active thin layer immobilized on the glass substrate can avoid recovery problems related to the use of TiO2 powder in heterogeneous photocatalysis and may be a promising tool toward protecting the environment from emerging contaminants such as ibuprofen and its derivatives.