Bench scale study of thermal remediation of barbiturate and sulphonamide co-contaminants in soil from a complex pharmaceutical waste site

Barbiturate and sulphonamide pharmaceuticals are rare soil and groundwater contaminants but may appear in increased concentrations at chemical waste sites. For this reason, knowledge on their remediation is scarce. This paper presents studies of thermal remediation of barbiturate and sulphonamide co-contaminants from a complex chemical waste site. It is investigated if steam injection may induce degradation or mobilisation to an extent that may be applicable as a remediation strategy. At 100°C and 140°C, laboratory results did show increased desorption from soil to aqueous phase with increased temperature but indicated only slight degradation of both barbiturates and sulpha compounds over a 14-day period. No gas phase mobilisation of barbiturates was observed while very small amounts of sulphonamides were detected in the condensate. The conclusion of this paper does not promote thermal treatment as an efficient remediation technology for this type of soil and groundwater contaminants.