EVALUATION OF LINEZOLID ANTIBIOTIC REMOVAL FROM PHARMACEUTICAL WASTEWATER USING MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY

Once pharmaceutical wastes are released into the sewage network, antibiotics can have several negative effects, such as promoting the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and disrupting natural microbial communities in water bodies. Linezolid is particularly concerning because it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that targets a wide range of bacteria, including those resistant to other antibiotics. This means that linezolid may be more likely to contribute to the decreasing the huge number of strains of bacteria in the environment, that are used to decrease BOD values in wastewater streams. Linezolid is manufactured at many sites in Egypt, the study was started at the end of 2021, and it continued until the first quarter of 2022, in a pharmaceutical factory located in El Obour city.  In this work, Reverse Osmosis (RO) is used to remove pharmaceutical pollutants such as linezolid antibiotics from waste that is drained of the pharmaceutical facility. The Results show that RO can remove significant amounts of linezolid from wastewater, with removal efficiencies ranging from 78% to 95%. The removal efficiency is affected by several factors. The factors under investigation are temperature, initial concentration of the pollutant (linezolid antibiotic), conductivity, and the total hardness of the influent of the wastewater. The maximum removal efficiency was discussed according to the optimum parameter, temperature 26 Cº, initial concentration 3 ppb, conductivity 500 µS/cm, and finally the optimum total hardness was obtained at 140 ppm. The study explained the results that Linezolid is a relatively small molecule, with a molecular weight of 337.35 g/mol, which makes it a good candidate for removal by RO.
Keywords: Antibiotics; Reverse Osmosis; Waste Removal; Environmental Impacts.