PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München

Ndlela, L.L.* ; Schröder, P. ; Genthe, B.* ; Cruzeiro, C.

Removal of antibiotics using an Algae-Algae consortium (Chlorella protothecoides and Chlorella vulgaris)

Toxics 11:12 (2023)
Publ. Version/Full Text DOI PMC
Open Access Gold
Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag
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.
Impact Factor
Scopus SNIP
Altmetric
4.600
0.000
Tags
Annotations
Special Publikation
Hide on homepage

Edit extra information
Edit own tags
Private
Edit own annotation
Private
Hide on publication lists
on hompage
Mark as special
publikation
Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Keywords Algae-algae Consortia ; Phycoremediation ; Removal Efficiency ; Wastewater; Waste-water; Persistence; Microalgae
Language english
Publication Year 2023
HGF-reported in Year 2023
ISSN (print) / ISBN 2305-6304
e-ISSN 2305-6304
Journal Toxics
Quellenangaben Volume: 11, Issue: 7, Pages: , Article Number: 12 Supplement: ,
Publisher MDPI
Publishing Place St Alban-anlage 66, Ch-4052 Basel, Switzerland
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
POF-Topic(s) 30202 - Environmental Health
Research field(s) Environmental Sciences
PSP Element(s) G-504991-001
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
Scopus ID 85166484739
PubMed ID 37505554
Erfassungsdatum 2023-10-06