ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Degradation and toxicity changes in aqueous solutions of chloroacetic acids by Fenton-like treatment using zero-valent iron

Tomáš Mackuľak, Josef Prousek, Miroslava Smolinská, Petra Olejníková, Alžbeta Takáčová, and Miloslav Drtil

Department of Environmental Engineering, Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37, Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: miroslava.smolinska@yahoo.com

Abstract: Three priority pollutants, i.e. mono-, di-, and trichloroacetic acids, were degraded by the conventional Fenton AOP system (Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂). The results obtained suggest that the degradation decreased in the order: monochloroacetic, dichloroacetic, and trichloroacetic acid. The best of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the degradation of trichloroacetic acid was reductive dechlorination with the use of zero-valent iron (Fe°). The results of Escherichia coli toxicity tests revealed that the reagents’ toxicity after the Fenton treatment process was decreased.

Keywords: Fenton reaction – toxicity test – chloroacetic acid – degradation – Escherichia coli

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0358-0

Chemical Papers 67 (12) 1594–1598 (2013)