Ibuprofen photodegradation in aqueous solutions.

The advanced treatment of polluted liquid streams containing traces of pharmaceutical compounds is a major issue, since more and more effluents from pharma labs and wastewaters containing the excretions of medically treated humans and animals are discharged in the conventional wastewater treatment plants without previous effective treatments. Ibuprofen is a widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), which explains why it is found in wastewaters so often. In this paper, the removal of IBP from simulated water streams was investigated by using a lab-scale experimental device, consisting of a batch reactor equipped with a lamp emitting monochromatic UV light at a fixed wavelength (254 nm) and various intensities. Three sets of experiments were carried out: the first to study IBP concentration as a function of time, at different volumes of treated solutions (V = 10-30 mL); the second to explore the effect of pH on IBP degradation as a function of time (pH = 2.25-8.25) and the third to evaluate the effect of different UV light intensities on IBP degradation (E = 100-400 mJ m