title: Degradation of pharmaceuticals in non-sterile urban wastewater by Trametes versicolor in a fluidized bed bioreactor.
abstract: The constant detection of pharmaceuticals (PhACs) in the environment demonstrates the inefficiency of conventional wastewater treatment plants to completely remove them from wastewaters. So far, many studies have shown the feasibility of using white rot fungi to remove these contaminants. However, none of them have studied the degradation of several PhACs in real urban wastewater under non-sterile conditions, where mixtures of contaminants presents at low concentrations (ng L(-1) to μg L(-1)) as well as other active microorganisms are present. In this work, a batch fluidized bed bioreactor was used to study, for the first time, the degradation of PhACs present in urban wastewaters at their pre-existent concentrations under non-sterile conditions. Glucose and ammonium tartrate were continuously supplied as carbon and nitrogen source, respectively, and pH was maintained at 4.5. Complete removal of 7 out of the 10 initially detected PhACs was achieved in non-sterile treatment, while only 2 were partially removed and 1 of the PhACs analyzed increased its concentration. In addition, Microtox test showed an important reduction of toxicity in the wastewater after the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cruz-Morató
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrando-Climent
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Mozaz
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
authors.forename: Ernest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marco-Urrea
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vicent
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarrà
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000378:metabolism; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000378:metabolism*; D013242:Sterilization; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods; D055454:Trametes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014506:Urban Renewal; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000633:toxicity; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002220:Carbamazepine; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioreactor; Degradation; Pharmaceuticals; Real urban wastewater; Trametes versicolor