Cytostatic Drug 6-Mercaptopurine Degradation on Pilot Scale Reactors by Advanced Oxidation Processes: UV-C/H2O2 and UV-C/TiO2/H2O2 Kinetics

6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) is a commonly used cytostatic agent, which represents a particular hazard for the environment because of its low biodegradability. In order to degrade 6-MP, four processes were applied: Photolysis (UV-C), photocatalysis (UV-C/TiO2), and their combination with H2O2, by adding 3 mM H2O2/L (UV-C/H2O2 and UV-C/TiO2/H2O2 processes). Each process was performed with variable initial pH (3.5, 7.0, and 9.5). Pilot scale reactors were used, using UV-C lamps as radiation source. Kinetic calculations for the first 20 min of reaction show that H2O2 addition is of great importance: in UV-C experiments, highest k was reached under pH 3.5, k = 0.0094 min−1, while under UV-C/H2O2, k = 0.1071 min−1 was reached under the same initial pH; similar behavior was observed for photocatalysis, as k values of 0.0335 and 0.1387 min−1 were calculated for UV-C/TiO2 and UV-C/TiO2/H2O2 processes, respectively, also under acidic conditions. Degradation percentages here reported for UV-C/H2O2 and UV-C/TiO2/H2O2 processes are above 90% for all tested pH values. Ecotoxicity analysis of samples taken at 60 min in the photolysis and photocatalysis processes, suggests that contaminant degradation by-products present higher toxicity than the original compound.