Degradation of sulfonamides and formation of trihalomethanes by chlorination after pre-oxidation with Fe(VI).

Sulfonamides are used in human therapy, animal husbandry and agriculture but are not easily biodegradable, and are often detected in surface water. Sulfamethazine (SMZ) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) are two widely used sulfonamide antibiotics that are used heavily in agriculture. In this study, they were degraded in an aqueous system by chlorination after pre-oxidation with ferrate(VI) (FeVIO42-, Fe(VI)), an environmentally friendly oxidation technique that has been shown to be effective in degrading various organics. The kinetics of the degradation were determined as a function of Fe(VI) (0-1.5mg/L), free chlorine (0-1.8mg/L) and temperature (15-35°C). According to the experimental results, SMZ chlorination followed second-order kinetics with increasing Fe(VI) dosage, and the effect of the initial free chlorine concentration on the reaction kinetics with pre-oxidation by Fe(VI) fitted a pseudo-first order model. The rate constants of SDZ and SMZ chlorination at different temperatures were related to the Arrhenius equation. Fe(VI) could reduce the levels of THMs formed and the toxicity of the sulfonamide degradation systems with Fe(VI) doses of 0.5-1.5mg/L, which provides a reference for ensuring water quality in drinking water systems.