Due to increasing application, different pesticides were found in the aquatic environment around the world; in underground, surface and drinking water. They belong to a group of new pollutants that shows high toxicity, both for people and for the whole aquatic ecosystem. Some pesticides are mentioned in Directive 2013/39/EU on the list of priority substances, so their concentration in the aquatic environment is continuously monitored. Moreover, various methods for removal pesticides from wastewater are developed. Primary and secondary wastewater treatment methods are not effective in removal of pesticides, but using advanced oxidation processes shows a better performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibilities of photooxidative UV-C/H2O2 advanced oxidation processes for treating model wastewater containing different pesticides (alachlor, atrazine, diuron, irgarol, chlorfenvinphos and simazine). The influence of pH and concentration of H2O2 on the kinetics of mentioned pesticides degradation were experimentally evaluated using full factorial plan and response surface method. Degradation of all mentioned pesticides obeys first-order kinetics, which was accurately modelled by the developed RSM model.

Zbog sve veće primjene, različiti pesticidi su otkriveni u vodenom okolišu diljem svijeta; u podzemnim, površinskim i pitkim vodama. Svrstavaju se u tzv. nova onečišćivala koja pokazuju veliku toksičnost, kako za ljude, tako i za cijeli vodeni ekosustav. Neki pesticidi nalaze se na listi prioritetnih tvari Direktive 2013/39/EU, pa se njihova koncentracija u vodenom okolišu kontinuirano prati. Osim toga, razvijaju se različite metode njihovog uklanjanja iz otpadnih voda. Primarne i sekundarne metode obrade otpadnih voda nisu učinkovite u uklanjanju pesticida, pa se sve više koriste napredni oksidacijski procesi koji pokazuju bolju učinkovitost. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti mogućnost fotooksidativnog UV-C/H2O2 naprednog oksidacijskog procesa u obradi modelnih voda različitih pesticida (alaklor, atrazin, diuron, irgarol, izoproturon, klorfenvinfos i simazin). Ispitan je utjecaj pH i koncentracije oksidansa H2O2 na brzinu razgradnje navedenih pesticida, korištenjem punog faktorskog plana i metode odzivnih površina. Kinetika razgradnje navedenih pesticida opisana je modelom prvog reda i razvijenim RSM modelom.