Issue 12, 2023

Mobility of antipyretic drugs with different molecular structures in saturated soil porous media

Abstract

In the post-COVID-19 era, extensive quantities of antipyretic drugs are being haphazardly released from households into the environment, which may pose potential risks to ecological systems and human health. Identification of the mobility behaviors of these compounds in the subsurface environment is crucial to understand the environmental fate of these common contaminants. The mobility properties of three broad-spectrum antipyretic drugs, including ibuprofen (IBF), indometacin (IMC), and acetaminophen (APAP), in porous soil media, were investigated in this study. The results showed that the mobility of the three drugs (the background electrolyte was Na+) through the soil column followed the order of APAP > IBF > IMC. The difference in the physicochemical characteristics of various antipyretic drugs (e.g., the molecular structure and hydrophobicity) could explain this trend. Unlike Na+, Ca2+ ions tended to serve as bridging agents by linking the soil grains and antipyretic molecules, leading to the relatively weak mobility behaviors of antipyretic drugs. Furthermore, for a given antipyretic drug, the antipyretic mobility was promoted when the background solution pH values were raised from 5.0 to 9.0. The phenomenon stemmed from the improved electrostatic repulsion between the dissociated species of antipyretic molecules and soil grains, as well as the weakened hydrophobic interactions between antipyretic drugs and soil organic matter. Furthermore, a two-site non-equilibrium transport model was used to estimate the mobility of antipyretic drugs. The results obtained from this work provide vital information illustrating the transport and retention of various antipyretic drugs in aquifers.

Graphical abstract: Mobility of antipyretic drugs with different molecular structures in saturated soil porous media

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Сер 2023
Accepted
16 Жов 2023
First published
17 Жов 2023

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023,25, 2092-2101

Mobility of antipyretic drugs with different molecular structures in saturated soil porous media

J. Chen, Q. Zhang, W. Chen, U. Farooq, T. Lu, B. Wang, J. Ni, H. Zhang and Z. Qi, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2023, 25, 2092 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00358B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements