PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF DRUGS UNDER LIGHT IRRADIATION

Pharmaceuticals released in the environment represent a major concern to the entire world. These pharmaceutically active compounds have been detected in several public water systems in Europe, Australia and USA. For this reason, it's crucial to find solutions to destroy or inactivate this class of substances. In our study, we investigated the degradation kinetics of vinblastine, vincristine, docetaxel and epirubicin hydrochloride under light irradiation. Because of the urgent need to eliminate these compounds from hospital, zinc oxide particles dispersed into styrene butadiene styrene thin films (SBS_ZnO) was tested to reach better removal.