TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmaceuticals removal and nutrient recovery from wastewaters by Chlamydomonas acidophila
AU - Escudero, Ania
AU - Hunter, Colin
AU - Roberts, Joanne
AU - Helwig, Karin
AU - Pahl, Ole
N1 - Acceptance in SAN/ from webpage
AAM: 12m embargo
- embargo currently set with no end date, as only journal pre-proof online 24 January 2020. 29/1/20 DC
^Epub date unchanged in final version. ET 7/5/20
PY - 2020/4/15
Y1 - 2020/4/15
N2 - Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of human pharmaceutical residues (PR) in the aquatic environment, which are considered to be of emerging concern. The microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila has shown to be a promising technology to recover the nutrients from wastewater and therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of this species to also remove PRs commonly present in wastewaters (atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine, clarithromycin, erythromycin, lidocaine, propranolol and simvastatin). Batch assays were carried out (50 mL, 90 rpm, 43 μmol photons m-2 s -1, 22 °C) comprising the wastewater with the pharmaceutical mixture at three concentrations: CHigh, CModerate and CEnv. The results demonstrated that this microalga does not seem to be affected by pharmaceuticals in wastewater at concentrations well above those detected in urban effluents; additionally it is able to degrade the antibiotics erythromycin and clarithromycin better than other microalgae species and enhances their removal from wastewater by 93 - 65% and 64 - 50% respectively. Furthermore, it exhibited a high assimilation of ammonium and phosphates reaching values of around 9 mgNH4 L-1d-1 and 3 mgPO4 L-1d-1 compared to other species. Therefore, Chlamydomonas acidophila appears to be a promising agent for urban wastewater treatment.
AB - Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of human pharmaceutical residues (PR) in the aquatic environment, which are considered to be of emerging concern. The microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila has shown to be a promising technology to recover the nutrients from wastewater and therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of this species to also remove PRs commonly present in wastewaters (atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine, clarithromycin, erythromycin, lidocaine, propranolol and simvastatin). Batch assays were carried out (50 mL, 90 rpm, 43 μmol photons m-2 s -1, 22 °C) comprising the wastewater with the pharmaceutical mixture at three concentrations: CHigh, CModerate and CEnv. The results demonstrated that this microalga does not seem to be affected by pharmaceuticals in wastewater at concentrations well above those detected in urban effluents; additionally it is able to degrade the antibiotics erythromycin and clarithromycin better than other microalgae species and enhances their removal from wastewater by 93 - 65% and 64 - 50% respectively. Furthermore, it exhibited a high assimilation of ammonium and phosphates reaching values of around 9 mgNH4 L-1d-1 and 3 mgPO4 L-1d-1 compared to other species. Therefore, Chlamydomonas acidophila appears to be a promising agent for urban wastewater treatment.
KW - microalgae
KW - antibiotics
KW - urban wastewaters
KW - biological treatment
KW - nutrients recovery
U2 - 10.1016/j.bej.2020.107517
DO - 10.1016/j.bej.2020.107517
M3 - Article
VL - 156
JO - Biochemical Engineering Journal
JF - Biochemical Engineering Journal
SN - 1369-703X
M1 - 107517
ER -