Tracking Pharmaceutical Degradation and Byproduct Formation in an Innovative Reactor for UV/H2O2 Advanced Oxidation Using High Resolution LC-MS

Ever improving technology for detecting trace organic constituents in treated wastewater has led to potentially large numbers of target constituents of concern and a plethora of proposed treatment technologies. For many, if not most, of these constituents the ecological and/or human health significance is unclear. Moreover, the trace constituents that have been selected for monitoring in wastewater are generally those known to be consumed in significant quantities and amenable to analytical detection. The vast majority of trace organic constituents in wastewater remains unidentified and therefore is not readily subject to monitoring. The targeted approach suffers because it may miss compounds that are: (1) newly introduced to commerce, (2) not within categories that are currently the focus of research, or (3) are transformation products of commercially produced chemicals produced during physical, chemical and biological treatment of wastewater. Consequently, monitoring and treatment regimes may not be optimized to protect human and ecosystem health while still consuming substantial amounts of resources.