title: Removal of fluoxetine and its effects in the performance of an aerobic granular sludge sequential batch reactor.
abstract: Fluoxetine (FLX) is a chiral fluorinated pharmaceutical mainly indicated for treatment of depression and is one of the most distributed drugs. There is a clear evidence of environmental contamination with this drug. Aerobic granular sludge sequencing batch reactors constitute a promising technology for wastewater treatment; however the removal of carbon and nutrients can be affected by micropollutants. In this study, the fate and effect of FLX on reactor performance and on microbial population were investigated. FLX adsorption/desorption to the aerobic granules was observed. FLX shock loads (≤4μM) did not show a significant effect on the COD removal. Ammonium removal efficiency decreased in the beginning of first shock load, but after 20 days, ammonia oxidizing bacteria became adapted. The nitrite concentration in the effluent was practically null indicating that nitrite oxidizing bacteria was not inhibited, whereas, nitrate was accumulated in the effluent, indicating that denitrification was affected. Phosphate removal was affected at the beginning showing a gradual adaptation, and the effluent concentration was <0.04mM after 70 days. A shift in microbial community occurred probably due to FLX exposure, which induced adaptation/restructuration of the microbial population. This contributed to the robustness of the reactor, which was able to adapt to the FLX load.
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Irina S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; Centro de Química Medicinal da Universidade do Porto (CEQUIMED-UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; Laboratory of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and Institute of Marine Research (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Raquel B R
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Mesquita
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: António O S S
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Rangel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628BC Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mark C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: van Loosdrecht
authors.affiliation: Centro de Química Medicinal da Universidade do Porto (CEQUIMED-UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tiritan
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: plcastro@porto.ucp.pt.
authors.forename: Paula M L
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Castro
mesh_terms: D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000378:metabolism*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; D012722:Sewage; D005473:Fluoxetine; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Aerobic granular sludge (AGS); Fluoxetine; Microbial community; Removal efficiency; Sequential batch reactor (SBR)