Adsorption and desorption of antiviral drugs (ritonavir and lopinavir) on sewage sludges as a potential environmental risk

The aim of this work was to evaluate the adsorption capacity and mechanism of two antiviral drugs AVDs (lopinavir (LOP) and ritonavir (RIT)) on three various sewage sludges (SSLs). The results showed that SSLs differed in the structure and chemical composition and LOP and RIT had a high affinity to the studied SSLs (Kd in ranges 2076–3449 L/kg). The adsorption capacities differed between SSLs and ranged 7.55–8.71 mg/g (RIT) and 8.10–8.64 mg/g (LOP). The Freundlich model provided a best fitting of adsorption isotherms of all AVDs-SSLs. The adsorption kinetics were best described by pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption of LOP and RIT on SSLs was exothermic, spontaneous, and thermodynamically feasible. The sorption of LOP and RIT to SSLs was complex due to the diverse chemical composition of SSLs and the differences in the chemical structure of AVDs. Analysis of binary solution of both AVDs showed the competition effect between AVDs and a decrease in adsorption efficiency (3–17%) compared to single solutions. The amount of desorbed AVDs from all SSLs was low (less than 15%). The findings of the present work are significant in the prediction of fate and persistence of AVDs on SSLs in the context of their further transmission and possible environmental contamination.