Determination of toxicity and biodegradability of priority pollutants

Usporedno s razvojem društva i tehnologije razvija se i kemijska industrija. Sjedilački način života, stres i loša prehrana rezultiraju povećanim brojem oboljelih, pa potreba za lijekovima i njihova konzumacija sve više raste. Svakodnevna uporaba farmaceutskih proizvoda dovodi do izlučivanja nemetaboliziranih aktivnih supstanci koje na kraju završavaju u vodenom okolišu. Uz farmaceutike raste i uporaba pesticida čije prekomjerno korištenje u poljoprivredi dovodi do njihove akumulacije u tlima, a time dospijevaju i u površinske te podzemne vode. Nekontrolirano ispuštanje farmaceutika i pesticida može rezultirati izrazito negativnim posljedicama na biosustav koji nas okružuje. Njihovo uklanjanje konvencionalnim metodama obrada otpadnih voda iznimno je male učinkovitosti, pa je nužno razviti adekvatne metode uklanjanja koje će biti sigurne i efikasne. Cilj ovog rada bio je upoznati se s bioluminiscentnom metodom analize toksičnosti te metodama analize biorazgradivosti kroz ispitivanja otopina sedam pesticida (alaklor, atrazin, cibutrin, diuron, klorfenvinfos, izoproturon, simazin) i osam farmaceutika (azitromicin, eritromicin, deksametazon, diklofenak, karbamezapin, 17β-estradiol, 17α-etinilestradiol, oksitetraciklin).As society and technology advance, the chemical industry advances too. Modern way of living, stress, and bad nutritional habits lead to an ever increasing number of patients, which results in increasing pharmaceuticals demand and consumption. Daily use of pharmaceutical products results in excretion of non-metabolized active substances which end up in the water environment. The usage of pesticides is also growing, and their increased use in agriculture leads to bioaccumulation of pesticides in soils, which later shows in surface and underground waters. Unregulated discharge of pharmaceuticals and pesticides can result in extremely negative consequences for the environment which surrounds us. Conventional water treatment plants show low efficiency when it comes to removing the pollutants from water, so its necessary to develop methods which will be equally efficient and safe. The aim of this paper is to get to know the bioluminescent method used for analyzing toxicity, and analytical methods for determination of biodegradability by analysis of seven pesticides (alachlor, atrazine, cybutrin, diuron, chlorphenvinfos, isoproturon, simazine) and eight pharmaceuticals (azithromycin, erythromycin, dexamethasone, diclofenac, carbamazepine, 17-β estradiol, 17-α ethinylestradiol, oxytetracycline). Toxicity is determined using the bacteria Vibrio fischeri, to whom the presence of organic pollutants causes a reduction in their emission of light