Radiation-induced removal of sulphadiazine antibiotics from wastewater.

The radiation-induced removal of sulphadiazine (SD) belonging to the heterocyclic sulphonamides pharmaceuticals was investigated by gamma irradiation at different conditions in laboratory scale. The influence of initial SD concentrations, pH values, 02 and N2 on SD degradation was determined. The experimental results showed that gamma-ray irradiation was efficient for removing SD from wastewater. SD could be completely removed at an absorbed dose of 10 kGy. The degradation kinetics of SD conformed to the first-order kinetic equation. When SD concentration was in the range of 10-30 mg/L, the dose constant (d) decreased with an increasing initial SD concentration. The mineralization of SD, in terms of total organic carbon removal, was not obvious at a low absorbed dose, but it increased to more than 75% at 100 kGy. The biodegradability of SD was improved after irradiation, suggesting that irradiation could be used as a pretreatment technology for treating SD-containing wastewater. The possible degradation pathway of SD was tentatively proposed based on the analysis of intermediate products during gamma irradiation.