A review on non-thermal plasma treatment of water contaminated with antibiotics

Large amounts of antibiotics are produced and consumed worldwide, while wastewater treatment is still rather inefficient, leading to considerable water contamination. Concentrations of antibiotics in the environment are often sufficiently high to exert a selective pressure on bacteria of clinical importance that increases the prevalence of resistance. Since the drastic reduction in the use of antibiotics is not envisaged, efforts to reduce their input into the environment by improving treatment of contaminated wastewater is essential to limit uncontrollable spread of antibiotic resistance. This paper reviews recent progress on the use of non-thermal plasma for the degradation of antibiotics in water. The target compounds removal, the energy efficiency and the mineralization are analyzed as a function of discharge configuration and the most important experimental parameters. Various ways to improve the plasma process efficiency are addressed. Based on the identified reaction intermediates, degradation pathways are proposed for various classes of antibiotics and the degradation mechanisms of these chemicals under plasma conditions are discussed.

Automated summary

Large amounts of antibiotics are being produced and consumed globally, leading to significant water contamination due to inefficient wastewater treatment. The high concentrations of antibiotics in the environment exert selective pressure on clinically important bacteria, increasing resistance prevalence. Efforts to improve contaminated wastewater treatment are essential in order to reduce uncontrollable spread of antibiotic resistance, as a drastic reduction in antibiotic use is not anticipated. This review paper analyzes recent progress on using non-thermal plasma technology to degrade antibiotics in water, discussing removal efficiency, energy efficiency, and degradation pathways for various classes of antibiotics. Ways to enhance the efficiency of the plasma process are also addressed.