Please cite this article in press as: H. Franquet-Griell, et al., Biological and photochemical degradation of cytostatic drugs under laboratory conditions, J. Hazard. Mater. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.06.057 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model HAZMAT-17847; No. of Pages 10 Journal of Hazardous Materials xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hazardous Materials journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat Biological and photochemical degradation of cytostatic drugs under laboratory conditions Helena Franquet-Griell a , Andrés Medina b , Carme Sans b , Silvia Lacorte a,∗ a Dept. of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain b Chemical Engineering Dept., University of Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain h i g h l i g h t s • Cytostatic drugs with reactive chemical groups are rapidly hydrolyzed. • Biodegradation is not capable to eliminate all cytostatic drugs. • UV-C and photolysis are not effective for the elimination of cytostatics. • UV-H 2 O 2 eliminates all compounds and no traces are present after 4 min. • Unless AOP is used, WWTP effluents are a main source of cytostatics to rivers. a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 22 April 2016 Received in revised form 21 June 2016 Accepted 28 June 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Cytostatic drugs Kinetics Photolysis Biodegradation Advanced oxidation processes a b s t r a c t Cytostatic drugs, used in chemotherapy, have emerged as new environmental contaminants due to their recurrent presence in surface waters and genotoxic effects. Yet, their degradability and environmental fate is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the degradation kinetics of 16 cytostatic drugs, prioritized according to their usage and occurrence in hospital and wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) effluents, through the following laboratory scale processes: hydrolysis, aerobic biodegradation, UV-C photolysis, UV-C/H 2 O 2 and simulated solar radiation. Some drugs were unstable in milli-Q water (vincristine, vinblastine, daunorubicin, doxorubicin and irinotecan); others were photodegraded under UV-C light (melphalan and etoposide) but some others were found to be recalcitrant to biodegradation and/or UV-C, making necessary the use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as UV-C/H 2 O 2 for complete elimination (cytarabine, ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide). Finally, radiation in a solar box was used to simulate the fate of cytostatic drugs in surface waters under natural radiation and complete removal was not observed for any drug. The degradation process was monitored using liquid chromatog- raphy coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry and pseudo-first order kinetic degradation constants were calculated. This study provides new data on the degradability of cytostatic compounds in water, thus contributing to the existing knowledge on their fate and risk in the environment. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the last years, cancer incidence in the global population is gradually increasing. In 2012, an estimated 14.1 million new cases of cancer occurred worldwide and caused 8.2 million deaths [1]. The incidence of cancer leads to the production and consumption of a large number and quantities of cytostatic drugs. On a country- wide basis, consumption of the most commonly used anticancer ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: slbqam@cid.csic.es (S. Lacorte). drugs (∼10–20 drugs) is in the order of tonnes yr −1 [2,3] which warrants research on their fate and behaviour in the environment. Once administered, cytostatic compounds are directly dis- charged into the sewer system by urinary and/or faecal excretions [4,5] and g L −1 concentrations have been detected in hospital effluents [6,7], in wastewater treatment plant (WWTPs) effluents [8] and in river waters [9]. Thus, sewage waters from urban areas and hospitals are the main source of cytostatic compounds towards WWTPs, although hospitals account for 5.5% [10] to 17% of the total discharged [11]. Cytostatics have been reported to have low biodegradability [12]. Indeed, some cytostatic compounds such as cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide and tamoxifen have been fre- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.06.057 0304-3894/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.