Photocatalysis Using UV‑A and UV‑C Light Sources for Advanced Oxidation of Anti-Cancer Drugs Spiked in Laboratory-Grade Water and Synthetic Urine

The presence of anti-cancer drugs in European surface waters appeals for the development of novel treatment processes. In this work, light emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit light at 255 nm (UV-C) and 365 nm (UV-A) wavelengths were compared in terms of their ability to degrade four anti-cancer drugs by UV and UV/TiO2 processes. None of treatments tested was able to degrade cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. Nevertheless, etoposide and paclitaxel were successfully eliminated by UV-C and UV-C/TiO2. Moreover, higher energetic yields were obtained with UV-C light for the degradation of anti-cancer drugs by photocatalysis than with UV-A. The option of using this treatment to deal with pollution at the source by performing essays in synthetic urine was shown to be not adequate, as drug photocatalysis was totally inhibited by the presence of radical scavenger species present in the urine matrix.