Tetracycline: production, waste treatment and environmental impact assessment

The frequent occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment requires an assessment of their environmental impact and their negative effects in humans. Among the drugs with high harmful potential to the environment are the antibiotics that reach the environment not only, as may be expected, through the effluents from chemical and pharmaceutical industries, but mainly through the sewage and livestock; because around 25 to 75% of the ingested drugs are excreted in unchanged form after the passage through the Gastro-Intestinal Tract. Tetracycline has high world consumption, representing a human consumption of about 23 kg/day in Brazil in 2007. At the moment, researches are being made to develop new tetracycline that incorporate heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Re, Pt, Pd) to their structures in order to increase their bactericidal effect. The conventional wastewater treatment plants are not able to degrade complex organic molecules to reduce their toxicity and improve their biodegradability. For this reason new technologies, i.e., the advanced oxidation processes, are being developed to handle this demand. The objectives of this study are to review the literature on the processes of obtaining tetracycline, presenting its waste treatment methods and evaluation of their environmental impact

Adição de polieletrólito ao processo de floculação no pós-tratamento de lixiviado por coagulação-floculação-sedimentação Addition to polyelectrolyte flocculation process in post leachate treatment coagulation-sedimentation-flocculation

A adição de polieletrólito ao processo de floculação no tratamento físico-químico por coagulação-floculação-sedimentação de efluentes tem sido uma alternativa para a obtenção de clarificados de boa qualidade em menor tempo devido ao aumento da velocidade de sedimentação. Deste modo, este artigo, objetivou determinar as inter-relações entre as variáveis pH, gradiente de floculação, dosagem de ferro e tipo de polieletrólito e avaliar o efeito desta adição na remoção de cor, DQO e turbidez no pós-tratamento do lixiviado submetido a tratamento biolõgico. Através do uso da técnica de planejamento e analisando-se os resultados obtidos, pôde-se verificar que o polímero de carga catiônica apresentou-se como o mais eficiente, obtendo remoções de até 97,70% para cor verdadeira, 81,52% para DQO e 92,18% para turbidez.<br>The addition of polyelectrolyte flocculation process in the physical-chemical treatment by coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation effluent has been an alternative to obtain clarification of good quality in less time due to increased sedimentation rate. Thus, this article aimed to determine the interrelationships between the pH gradient, flocculation, iron dosage and type of polyelectrolyte and evaluate the effect of this addition on color removal, COD and turbidity in the post-treatment of the leachate subjected to pretreatment biological. Through the use of technical planning and analyzing the results, it was found that the polymer cationic charge introduced himself as the most efficient, achieving removals of up to 97.70% for true color, 81.52% for COD and 92.18% for turbidity

Pré-tratamento de lixiviados de aterros sanitários por filtração direta ascendente e coluna de carvão ativado Landfill leachate pre-treatment by upflow direct filtration and column of activated carbon

Vários problemas ambientais no Brasil decorrem do acelerado crescimento dos setores produtivos e, consequentemente, da multiplicidade dos resíduos sólidos urbanos gerados. A disposição destes em aterros sanitários é prática comum; entretanto, essa deposição requer medidas de proteção ambiental, incluindo o tratamento dos lixiviados. Este trabalho, conduzido em filtros de areia e coluna de carvão ativado, trata de proposta de tratamento físico-químico do lixiviado como alternativa ao processo biológico. No que se refere ao processo de filtração, observaram-se reduções de até 74% para DQO, 47% para DBO, 93% para cor, 90% para amônia e aumento de 0,3 para 0,9 na relação DBO5/DQO. Constataram-se limitações com relação à duração das carreiras de filtração, para o que se sugere avaliar outras granulometrias de areia e até mesmo tecnologias de tratamento.<br>Several environmental problems in Brazil are due to the rapid growth of various productive sectors, and the resulting qualitative multiplicity of municipal solid waste that are generated. The disposal of solid waste in landfills is a common practice; however, it requires environment protection measures, including the treatment of leachate. This work conducted in sand filters and activated carbon column refers to physical and chemical treatment of leachate as an alternative to the biological process. Regarding the filtration process, the results showed reductions of up to 74% for COD, 47% for BOD, 93% for color, 90% for ammonia and an increase from 0.3 to 0.9 in BOD5/COD relation. Limitations were found in relation to filtration run, which suggests the evaluation of other size grains and even treatment technologies