Sulfamethoxazole is an oral antibiotic widely used to treat a variety of infections such as urinary tract, respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, etc. Approximately 20% of sulfamethoxazole is excreted into the environment through urine.  Not only does antibiotic Sulfamethoxazole pollute water bodies, but it can also induce antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. This work studied the degradation of sulfamethoxazole in aqueous solutions under electron beam irradiation, studied the effects of different parameters, such as dose, initial concentration of pollutants, solution pH and water matrix on degradation of sulfamethoxazole, and proposed possible degradation pathways.

Acknowledgments: This work is funded by the third Polish-Chinese/Chinese-Polish joint research project “Advanced treatment of typical antibiotic pharmaceutical wastewater by electron beam irradiation”.