Sonochemical degradation of a pharmaceutical waste, atenolol, in aqueous medium

Atenolol is a β-blocker drug and an identified emerging pollutant. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) utilise the reaction of a highly oxidising species (hydroxyl radicals, •OH) for the mineralisation of emerging pollutants since conventional treatment methodologies generally fail to degrade these compounds. In the present work, degradation of atenolol was carried out using ultrasound with frequencies ranging from 200 kHz to 1 MHz as a source of hydroxyl radical. The degradation was monitored by HPLC, total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and ion chromatography (IC). Nearly 90 % of degradation of atenolol was observed with ultrasound having 350 kHz. Both frequency and power of ultrasound affect the efficiency of degradation. Nearly 100 % degradation was obtained at a pH of 4. Presence of various additives such as sodium dodecyl sulphate, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate and bicarbonate was found to reduce the efficiency of degradation. Although nearly 100 % degradation of atenolol was observed under various experimental conditions, only about 62 % mineralisation (from TOC and COD measurements) was obtained. Nearly eight intermediate products were identified using high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF). These products were understood as the results of hydroxyl radical addition to atenolol. The degradation studies were also carried out in river water which also showed a similar degradation profile. A mechanism of degradation and mineralisation is presented.