REMOVAL OF DRUGS FROM AQUEOUS MATRIXES USING A REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANE

Abstract

Pollution of water bodies by micropollutants is a problem of growing concern, especially regarding contamination with drug residues and metabolites. The presence of these substances in surface waters is related to deleterious consequences for the population and the environment. The incorrect disposal of drug residues and the low efficiency of conventional water treatment methods require the use of alternative methods, such as the use of membrane separation processes for the treatment of effluents. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of a reverse osmosis membrane for the removal of ibuprofen and diclofenac sodium from an aqueous matrix. For this, permeation tests were performed with aqueous solutions of diclofenac and ibuprofen at a concentration of 10 mg∙L-1, alone and together. The hydraulic permeability of the membrane and the drug rejection efficiency were evaluated. The presence of drugs in the solution had little influence on the hydraulic permeability of the membrane. The minimum removal efficiency of both substances was greater than 98.5 %, generating a permeate stream practically free of drugs, whether evaluated separately or in the same solution. These results indicate the operational robustness of the membrane since neither the permeability nor the rejection were altered by the fact that we have the two drugs combined, in addition to demonstrating the potential use of reverse osmosis as a treatment method for the removal of residues and traces of drugs and other difficult-to-treat organic substances in aqueous matrices.