Glucocorticoids (GCs) in the environment have been an increasing concern. Most recently, GCs have been shown to be an effective remedy to manage septic shock in patients infected with COVID-19. In this study, a self-made dielectric barrier discharge reactor integrating microbubbles and peroxymonosulfate (DBD/MB/PMS) was used to degrade the GCs in water. At neutral pH and ambient temperature, hydrocortisone (HC), betamethasone (BT) and fluocinolone acetonide (FA) were degraded effectively by the DBD/MB/PMS system with the 90-min degradation efficiencies of 77%, 80% and 82%, respectively (discharge power: 83.5 W; PMS:GC ratio: 20:1). In comparison, the 90-min degradation efficiencies for HC, BT and FA by DBD/MB system (discharge power: 83.5 W, pH unadjusted, flow rate 40 mg/L) were only 49%, 54% and 60% respectively; and the efficiencies by heat activated PMS (90 °C) were only 24%, 12%, and 16%, respectively. Hence, DBD/MB is an efficient approach for PMS activation, which resulted in increased removal efficiencies and energy yields for GCs degradation. The rate constants for GCs degradation also increased with the increase of PMS dosage and initial solution pH. Both SO₄⁻ and OH were prominent species for GCs degradation. Based on the results of scavenging experiment, the contributions of SO₄⁻ for HC, BT and FA degradation were roughly estimated to be 51%, 59% and 60%, respectively, and the contributions of OH were 30%, 29% and 27%, respectively. This work not only provides a novel approach in dealing with GCs contaminated water, but also highlights the synergistic effect of plasma, MB and PMS.

环境中的糖皮质激素 (GC) 越来越受到关注。最近，GC 已被证明是治疗 COVID-19 感染患者感染性休克的有效药物。在本研究中，使用集成微泡和过硫酸盐 (DBD/MB/PMS) 的自制介质阻挡放电反应器降解水中的 GC。在中性 pH 和环境温度下，氢化可的松 (HC)、倍他米松 (BT) 和氟轻松 (FA) 被 DBD/MB/PMS 系统有效降解，90 分钟的降解效率分别为 77%、80% 和 82%，分别（放电功率：83.5 W；PMS:GC 比率：20:1）。相比之下，DBD/MB系统（放电功率：83.5 W，pH未调整，流速40 mg/L）对HC、BT和FA的90分钟降解效率分别仅为49%、54%和60%；热激活 PMS (90 °C) 的效率分别仅为 24%、12% 和 16%。因此，DBD/MB 是一种有效的 PMS 活化方法，可提高 GC 降解的去除效率和能量产量。GCs 降解的速率常数也随着 PMS 剂量和初始溶液 pH 值的增加而增加。两个 SO₄ ^-和OH 是 GC 降解的主要物种。根据清除实验结果，粗略估计SO ₄ ⁻对HC、BT和FA降解的贡献分别为51%、59%和60%，OH的贡献分别为30%、29%和27 ％， 分别。这项工作不仅提供了一种处理 GCs 污染水的新方法，而且突出了血浆、MB 和 PMS 的协同作用。