Photodegradation of Mefenamic Acid in Aqueous Media: Kinetics, Toxicity and Photolysis Products.

The present study investigated the photolytic behavior and photodegradation products of mefenamic acid (MEF) under ultraviolet-C irradiation. The results demonstrated that the photodegradation of MEF followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the direct photolysis quantum yield of mefenamic acid was observed to be 2.63 ± 0.28 × 10⁻³. Photodegradation of MEF included degradation by direct photolysis and by self-sensitization that the contribution rates of self-sensitized photodegradation were 5.70, 11.25 and 18.96 % for ·OH, ¹O2 and O·2⁻ , respectively. Primary transformation products of MEF were identified using ultra performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). The identified transformation products suggested three possible pathways of MEF photodegradation: dehydrogenation, hydroxylation, and ketonized reactions. Toxicity of phototransformation products were evaluated using the Microtox test, which revealed that photodegradation likely provides a critical pathway for MEF toxicity reduction in drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities.