The photodegradation of aqueous solutions containing 0.2 mM methyl parathion has been studied through the optimization of
the [H
2O
2]/[Fe
3+] ratio in a Fe
3+/H
2O
2/UV-C flow system of 1.3 L capacity. The decay kinetics and TOC abatement have been analyzed for the experiments performed
at pH 3.0 and room temperature. All experiments lead to the total methyl parathion destruction after a few minutes, following
a pseudo-first-order decay kinetics. Total mineralization can be reached after 120 min at the optimum ratio found, due to
the synergistic effect of the very oxidizing hydroxyl radical (
·OH) produced via the Fenton reagent and the effective photodecarboxylation at 253.7 nm.
Keywords Photo-Fenton - UV-C light - Water pollution - Methyl parathion - Degradation kinetics - Mineralization