Evaluation of chemical, biological and ecotoxicological characteristics of cresol and its Fenton's degradation products

In this study, chemical (COD, TOC and MOSC), biological (BOD) and ecotoxicological (GI, EC50 and TU) characteristics of cresol and its Fenton's degradation products were evaluated comparatively. Experiments were carried out in previously optimized conditions. The degradation efficiency and mineralization efficiency of the process was 82% and 41.7% respectively. MOSC changed from -0.875 to +2.499. According to HPLC analysis results after the Fenton process, cresol was completely removed. The Germination Index (GI) improved from 33.1% to 59.7%. Based on TU results, cresol phytotoxicity is 3.5 times greater than its final degradation products. Despite these results, the ecotoxicity and biodegradability of intermediates and products were very unsuitable for the discharging of treated wastewater to the environment. Lime post-treatment was used as an efficient detoxification of cresol final degradation products.