Biodegradability of several antipsychotic drugs: manual and automatic assessment

Abstract

The present study aims to assess the 5 day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) levels of several typical and atypical antipsychotic (AP) drugs to evaluate their degree of biodegradabilities. In recent times, the consumption of APs has seen a marked increase, and BOD₅ can be a good parameter to evaluate the relative oxygen contents of these pharmaceuticals in polluted waters, effluents and wastewater. The Winkler method was implemented and after that, an automatized sequential injection analysis (SIA) method was used, aiming to overcome some drawbacks of the Winkler method. The degradation degree of these pharmaceuticals was determined from two perspectives: by using the theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD) value and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) value. From the results obtained with the second perspective, we could determine the degree of biodegradability of the AP drugs. The results of the Winkler method and the SIA system were quite similar. The SIA methodology is capable of operating as a screening method in any stage of a synthetic process in addition to being more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Overall, these studies presented promising perspectives for improvement in the removal of pharmaceuticals from waste effluents by assessing BOD values.