HOW PRESENCE OF SOME PHARMACEUTICALS CAN AFFECT THE PRODUCTION OF BIOGAS AT ANAEROBIC DIGESTION PROCESS

Анотація

During the last years, the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in aqueous media has become of interest for the protection of the environment, mainly due to their harmful effects on humans and ecosystems. After consumption, pharmaceuticals are partially metabolized in the body and their metabolites, as well as unchanged parent compounds are excreted predominantly in the urine from the body. In addition, expired pharmaceuticals are often inappropriately disposed of in toilets flushing, or are thrown into the drain. According to British data one up to two thirds of unused pharmaceuticals ends up in landfills for household waste and up to fifth in the toilet. It is understood that the given substances have occurred in the waste water over several decades, but a big attention is given to them only during the last years, probably because a new analytical procedure for their identification even at very low concentrations was developed.