Development of activated carbon and nanofunctionalized composites for the removal and passive monitoring of antineoplastic compounds in the aquatic environment

• Grant number: 21/06471-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Geórgia Christina Labuto Araújo
• Grantee: Taciana Guarnieri Soares Guimarães
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The quality of drinking water has become a concern, associated with the possible presence of contaminants, such as drugs, which receive attention due to their occurrence and possible harmful effects on the environment and humans. Antineoplastic drugs were detected in hospital effluents and wastewater in concentrations between ng L-1 and ¼g L-1. There are projections of a drastic increase in the use of this type of medicine for the coming years, which intensifies the concern about its presence in the environment. Conventional water and effluent treatment techniques are often ineffective for the complete removal of these contaminants. Thus, it is crucial to develop simple and low-cost methodologies that are efficient for the removal of antineoplastic agents in water. In this context, it is interesting to apply Circular Economy principles, reusing and adding value to agro-industrial residues. This present project proposes: 1) the prioritization of antineoplastics to be monitored and removed from waters, having as reference the consumption of such substances in the municipalities that integrate the hydrographic basin of the Guarapiranga reservoir (São Paulo, Brazil), considering the quantities of antineoplastic drugs commercialized and the physicochemical and toxicological parameters of the different molecules and, 2) the evaluation of the use of activated charcoal produced from biomass residues from agro-industrial processes, functionalized or not with silver and copper nanoparticles, for the removal of prioritized antineoplastic agents from the aqueous medium and, 3) development of novel passive samplers using activated charcoal and nanofunctionalized composites, which will be used to monitor antineoplastic agents in natural waters. The experimental works will be developed at the Laboratory of Integrated Sciences (LabInSciences) at the Federal University of São Paulo and at the Institute of Experimental and Technological Biology (iBET) in Portugal. This project is inserted in the thematic initiative PharmaPoll (Pharmaceutical Pollution) of the collaborative research network HydroPoll (Hydrological Pollution, www.hydropoll.org).