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Phytoremediation of five pharmaceutical products registered as emerging contaminants in an aqueous medium using the species Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Abstract:

Contamination of freshwater aquatic systems is a recurring environmental problem worldwide, which is becoming increasingly acute with the frequent presence of new chemical compounds, such as emerging pollutants, including pharmaceutical products. The objective of this research was to estimate the ability of the water hyacinth species (Eichhornia crassipes) to remove from the aqueous environment five highly prescribed and over-the-counter drugs such as ciprofloxacin, ibuprofen, sulfamethoxazole, diclofenac, and acetaminophen. The work was carried out under greenhouse conditions at a temperature of 25 0C and a pH of 6.5; with a sampling every 24 h at different concentrations (3, 6, 9.12) mg/L. For the analysis of the samples, UV-VIS Spectrophotometry was used with direct reading of the absorbances of each one of the drugs. The response surface methodology was used for the statistical analysis of the data, which allowed determining the models to establish optimal times and concentrations maximizing the absorption of each pharmaceutical product, as well as obtaining the growth slopes to define where it can be projected the optimum. The main results in this work indicate that E. crassipes removed 95% of diclofenac in aqueous solutions with a concentration of 3 mg/L in 24 h, followed by ciprofloxacin and acetaminophen with a maximum removal of 91.18% and 71% at 96 h, respectively. At the same time, the lowest removal percentages were obtained for ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole at 57.56% and 36%, respectively. In the present study, the high Eichchornia crassipes removal capacity of the five pharmaceutical products under controlled conditions was verified, evidencing a great possibility of application in the phytoremediation of emerging contaminants in an aqueous medium.