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Removal of antibiotics using an Algae-Algae consortium (Chlorella protothecoides and Chlorella vulgaris)
Toxics 11:12 (2023)
The intensive use of antibiotics (for human, veterinary, and agricultural purposes) has steadily increased over the last 30 years. Large amounts of antibiotic residues are released into aquatic systems, mostly due to inefficient wastewater treatment. Conventional wastewater treatments are not designed to remove emerging contaminants (such as antibiotics) from wastewater. Therefore, algae treatment (phycoremediation) has emerged as a promising choice for cost-effective, eco-friendly, and sustainable wastewater treatment. For this reason, we investigated the removal performance of a well-established algal consortia (Chlorella protothecoides and Chlorella vulgaris) used in passive wastewater treatment ponds (Mosselbay, South Africa). Five antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin, trimethoprim, ofloxacin, and clarithromycin) were selected for their ubiquity and/or low removal efficiency in conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). For each antibiotic, two concentrations were used: one environmentally relevant (10 ppb) and another 10 times higher (100 ppb), tested in triplicate and collected at two-time points (7 and 10 days). The algae remained viable over the exposure period (which is similar to the retention time within maturation ponds) and exhibited the capacity to remove sulfamethoxazole (77.3% ± 3.0 and 46.5% ± 5.3) and ofloxacin (43.5% ± 18.9 and 55.1% ± 12.0) from samples spiked with 10 and 100 ppb, respectively. This study demonstrates the potential and innovation of algal remediation for contaminants in a developing country context, where minimal infrastructure is available.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Algae-algae Consortia ; Phycoremediation ; Removal Efficiency ; Wastewater; Waste-water; Persistence; Microalgae
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2305-6304
e-ISSN
2305-6304
Journal
Toxics
Quellenangaben
Volume: 11,
Issue: 7,
Article Number: 12
Publisher
MDPI
Publishing Place
St Alban-anlage 66, Ch-4052 Basel, Switzerland
Non-patent literature
Publications
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Research Unit Environmental Simulation (BIOP-EUS)
Grants
Water Research Commission
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Water Joint Programming Initiative through the European research project IDOUM-Innovative Decentralized and low-cost treatment systems for Optimal Urban wastewater Management
Water Research Commission
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Water Joint Programming Initiative through the European research project IDOUM-Innovative Decentralized and low-cost treatment systems for Optimal Urban wastewater Management