title: Hospital wastewater treatment by fungal bioreactor: removal efficiency for pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptor compounds.
abstract: Hospital effluents contribute to the occurrence of emerging contaminants in the environment due to their high load of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) and some endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs). Nowadays, hospital wastewaters are co-treated with urban wastewater; however, the dilution factor and the inefficiency of wastewater treatment plants in the removal of PhACs and EDCs make inappropriate the co-treatment of both effluents. In this paper, a new alternative to pre-treat hospital wastewater concerning the removal of PhACs and EDCs is presented. The treatment was carried out in a batch fluidized bed bioreactor under sterile and non-sterile conditions with Trametes versicolor pellets. Results on non-sterile experiments pointed out that 46 out of the 51 detected PhACs and EDCs were partially to completely removed. The total initial PhAC amount into the bioreactor was 8185 μg in sterile treatment and 8426 μg in non-sterile treatment, and the overall load elimination was 83.2% and 53.3% in their respective treatments. In addition, the Microtox test showed reduction of wastewater toxicity after the treatment. Hence, the good efficiency of the fungal treatment regarding removal of the wide diversity of PhACs and EDCs detected in hospital effluents is demonstrated.
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.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, 101-E-17003 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, 101-E-17003 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Llorca
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, 101-E-17003 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Mozaz
authors.affiliation: Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gorga
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, 101-E-17003 Girona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrovic
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, 101-E-17003 Girona, Spain; Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, IDAEA-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vicent
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarrà
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain. Electronic address: ernest.marco@uab.es.
authors.forename: Ernest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marco-Urrea
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000032:analysis*; D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology; D006761:Hospitals; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioreactor; Endocrine disruptors; Hospital wastewater; Pharmaceuticals; Trametes versicolor