title: Toxicity measurement in biological wastewater treatment processes: a review.
abstract: Biological wastewater treatment processes (WWTPs), by nature of their reliance on biological entities to degrade organics and sometimes remove nutrients, are vulnerable to toxicants present in their influent. Various toxicity measurement methods have been adopted for biological WWTPs, but most are performed off-line, and cannot be adapted to on-line monitoring tools to provide an early warning for WWTP operators. However, the past decade has seen a rapid expansion in the research and development of biosensors that can be used for toxicity assessment of aquatic environments. Some of these biosensors have also been shown to be effective for use in biological WWTPs. Nevertheless, more research is needed to: examine the sensitivity of assays and sensors based on single organisms to various toxicants and develop a matrix of biosensors or a biosensor incorporating multiple organisms that can protect WWTPs; test the micro fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors with real wastewaters and correlate the results with the well-established oxygen uptake rate (OUR)-based or CH4-based toxicity assay; and, develop advanced data processing methods for interpreting the results of on-line toxicity sensors in real WWTPs to reduce the noise due to the normal fluctuation in influent quality and quantity.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre (AEBC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Centre (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University,Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yeyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre (AEBC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Centre (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University,Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Araujo
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chun Chau
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Sze
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Centre (AEBC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Centre (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University,Singapore 637141, Singapore; Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK. Electronic address: d.stuckey@ic.ac.uk.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Stuckey
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000737:chemistry; D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D003621:Daphnia; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects; D012722:Sewage; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008697:Methane; D009584:Nitrogen; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D010100:Oxygen; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Activated sludge; Anaerobic digestion; Biological wastewater treatment; Biosensor; Toxicity