Antibacterial Activity Inhibition after the Degradation of Flumequine by UV/H2O2

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Flumequine is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent of the quinolone class widely used as veterinary drug in food-producing animals. It is considered as pseudo-persistent compound continuously introduced into the environment and its presence in the environment may contribute to the development of drug resistant bacterial strains. In this study antibacterial activity removal during flumequine degradation by UV/H2O2 was evaluated. The results showed that the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) using UV/H2O2 was effective in removing the antibacterial activity of flumequine in aqueous solution. The dose-response dropped as the AOP removed flumequine from the solution during the treatment. After 15 minutes, the log dilution rose from -1.0 to -0.18 to achieve the antibacterial veterinary drug EC50. Moreover, after 30 minutes it was untraceable, which indicates flumequine degradation through AOP, as confirmed by quantitative HPLC analyses (degradation higher than 99%). It was also shown that the by-products formed during the oxidation did not offer stronger antibacterial activity. These results showed that AOP is technically efficient for the treatment of aqueous solutions containing flumequine.141106114Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP