Paper Title
PHOTODEGRADATION OF FIVE TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS FROM SIMULATED WASTEWATERS UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS

Abstract
Abstract - Micro plastics, flame retardants, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals and personal care products are major classes of environmental contaminants of emerging concern resulted from industrialization. Among pharmaceuticals, antidepressant drugs are becoming a daily medication for a continuously increasing number of people worldwide, especially over the past two decades, considering the struggles with finding a work-life balance in the modern society and the uncertainties caused by the dynamics of world economy, even more so in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Resulting from this increase in production and prescription of antidepressants, there is also a threatening increase of their levels in the environment and wastewaters, in particular. As such, green solutions for the treatment of such pollutants in wastewaters are currently sought, one promising option being ultraviolet (UV)-induced photo degradation. In the present study, we have focused on the destruction by UV-photo treatment of five representative tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) potentially found in wastewaters: amitryptiline, doxepine, imipramine, clomipramine, and trimipramine. Various photo degradation conditions have been employed, such as changing the wavelength of the UV source, the addition of small amounts of carboxyl radical-generating water soluble precursors, or matrix modifications. The results obtained are discussed comparatively in terms of reaction kinetics, photo degradation efficiency, and minimal UV irradiation time needed to achieve complete TCA photo degradation in each case. These findings may find application for designing UV photo treatment units as part of wastewater treatment plants. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS–UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2021-1216, within PNCDI III. Keywords - Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, Photo Degradation, Tricyclic Antidepressants, UV Irradiation, Wastewater.