Tuna bone char as a waste-derived sorbent for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern from saline wastewater

Introduction: Today one of the main problems affecting our environment is the presence of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) in surface waters. CECs are stable compounds that are not degraded by traditional wastewater treatments processes, accumulating in the environment and potentially causing harm. Within CECs, pharmaceuticals are of particular concern, due to their increased consumption, with the new EU legislation aiming at the improvement of the quality of the treated wastewater to be discharged, especially in what these pollutants. In the present work, a material derived from tuna fish bones was prepared by a pyrolysis process (Tuna Bone Char, TBC) and then used to adsorb two pharmaceuticals, tramadol (TRA) and venlafaxine (VNF). The adsorption assays were performed in aqueous matrices simulating wastewaters with different levels of salinity. Conclusions: Conclusions: Tuna bones were successfully converted into a powder material with a high surface area, suitable for environmental remediation/pollutants adsorption. Pharmaceutical compounds classified as CECs were removed from different water matrices using the TBC powder. The chemical nature of the pharmaceutical possibly affected the adsorption process. The salinity level of the wastewater also affected significantly the adsorption capacity of the TBC.