Developing and disseminating new technologies for environmental remediation of emerging contaminants

Abstract

The class of emerging contaminants, which include pharmaceutical residues and pesticides, has been widely studied due to their presence and toxicity in different environmental ecosystems. Due to their proven risks, European countries and the USA have created mechanisms and standards to deal with, monitor, and control their presence in the environment. However, Brazil, which has a "strong" pharmaceutical industry and is one of the largest consumers of agricultural pesticides in the world, has not shown the same concerns regarding this global problem. In this scenario, expanding actions aimed at the development of new technologies for treatment, pollution control and environmental monitoring of these compounds are necessary. Therefore, this project presents a proposal for a public-public partnership for the development of new technologies aimed at the treatment, control, and monitoring of emerging contaminants in a real environment. Inspired by the solar platform in Almeria-ES for the treatment of wastewater, the proposal aims at field experimentation, with the potential construction of an experimental solar mini-platform at the ETE in the municipality of Gavião Peixoto - SP, located in the mesoregion of Araraquara - SP. The experimental stations fed by real effluent and surface water will be used to develop research aimed at the environmental remediation of emerging contaminants. Combined type solar reactors will be installed in the effluent stream previously treated by biological processes, and the efficiency of solar photocatalysis will be investigated using different advanced oxidation (AOP) and adsorption processes. The photocatalyst nanomaterials will be synthesized by the hydrothermal method assisted by microwave (MW), ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis) radiation proposed for the first time by the responsible researcher. The adsorbent materials will be based on high porosity carbon and molecular imprinting polymers (MIP) for application in the removal of emerging pollutants and sample preparation processes. The public-public partnership will be an opportunity to, in loco, promote the dissemination of technical-scientific knowledge on the proposed theme to new researchers, technical professionals, and primary-medium education students. In the real environment of the ETE and an existing Ecological Park in the respective municipality, local and regional public schools at basic, medium, and technical levels, in addition to society in general, will be encouraged to visit the spaces as an activity of extension. (AU)