National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela researchers have come up with a new process to eliminate pharmaceutical contaminants from wastewater through biologically sourced processes. The achievement seeks to protect human and aquatic life by remediating the emerging issue of pharmaceutical contaminants in water systems. The research proposes a two-step system that integrates adsorption and biodegradation, which effectively treats a range of pharmaceutical substances, such as antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSIDs), and synthetic dyes.

The study, published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering, was conducted by Prof. Angana Sarkar of the Department of Biotechnology & Medical Engineering at NIT Rourkela. Her team of research graduates Kasturi Poddar and Debapriya Sarkar and research scholar Pritam Bajirao Patil carried out this research with support from the Science and Engineering Research Board under the IMPRINT-2 scheme of the Government of India. The work was done in association with Cadila Pharmaceutical Ltd. so that there would be an industry-academic alliance for practical purposes.

Describing the innovation, Prof. Sarkar said the integrated system effectively decontaminates pharmaceutical pollutants with no toxic intermediates. With biologically derived materials, the process safeguards biodegrading bacteria, reduces harmful byproducts, and maximizes eco-friendly management of pharmaceutical waste. The treatment cost is put at Rs 2.6 per liter, but optimization and integration into existing wastewater treatment plants could minimize costs heavily.

The treatment process begins with the first step of adsorption, where pharmaceutical residues and antibiotics are trapped with the help of biochar adsorbents prepared from roasted rice straw and coco peat. The first step effectively minimizes antibiotic contamination before proceeding to the second step, where specific bacterial strains like Klebsiella and Pseudomonas are utilized to degrade remaining pharmaceutical substances like diclofenac, paracetamol, and synthetic dyes. The system has been successfully tested with model pharmaceutical compounds, but scientists think it can be modified to treat a wider variety of contaminants with similar chemical makeup.

One of the benefits of this process is its adaptability to pre-existing wastewater treatment facilities. Biologically treated water can be purified further by normal treatment processes without requiring additional phases for bacterial removal and solid residue elimination. It is therefore an effective and reproducible means for the control of pharmaceutical pollution in a range of environments, including hospital wastewater, household sewage, and industrial waste effluents.

The occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in water bodies has emerged as a growing environmental and public health issue. PhACs enter water bodies through various sources, such as hospitals, pharmaceutical plants, livestock rearing, and domestic wastewater. In the environment, they settle in aquatic food chains, which results in bioaccumulation and biomagnification, causing critical impacts on wildlife and human health.

Research has revealed shocking amounts of pharmaceutical contamination of Indian rivers. For example, a study conducted on the Musi River in Telangana identified more than 5 milligrams per liter of ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections. The concentration was found to be high due to waste disposal by adjacent drug manufacturing plants. The pollution has had disastrous consequences for local ecosystems, causing deaths of fish and posing disruptions in the food chain. Decreasing numbers of vultures and eagles in India have also been attributed to exposure to pharmaceutical pollutants, among which diclofenac is noted to induce kidney failure in birds.

Pharmaceutical pollution also has a similarly disturbing effect on human health. Chronic exposure to these pollutants has been associated with kidney and liver damage, high blood pressure, and developmental disorders. The occurrence of antibiotics in wastewater is especially disturbing since a high percentage of the drugs are not metabolized. This helps fuel the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, an international public health issue that jeopardizes the efficacy of contemporary medicine. Left unaddressed, the proliferation of antibiotic resistance has the potential to make numerous life-saving drugs obsolete, with the consequence of rising mortality due to bacterial infection.

Through the creation of an eco-friendly and economical technique of eliminating pharmaceutical pollutants, NIT Rourkela’s work presents a hopeful answer to this increasingly widespread issue. The synergy between adsorption and biodegradation delivers an inclusive strategy that not only traps dangerous compounds but also provides for their safe degradation without creating secondary pollutants. Application of biochar adsorbents prepared from agricultural residues such as rice straw additionally improves the process’s environmental sustainability and makes it suitable for large-scale application.

In the future, the team hopes to advance the process one step further so that it’s more efficient and less costly so that it may be widely adapted. Installing it as a third step of tertiary treatment at facilities that currently process wastewater would likely be an inexpensive and straightforward approach to combating pharmacy contamination.

As the globe struggles with growing pharmaceutical contamination and the dangers of antibiotic resistance, such innovations are a beacon of hope for a cleaner and healthier future. Utilizing biological processes and eco-friendly materials, NIT Rourkela’s innovation is a giant leap toward safeguarding water resources, maintaining biodiversity, and ensuring public health.