Biological Removal of the Mixed Pharmaceuticals: Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, and Sulfamethoxazole Using a Bacterial Consortium

Abstract

The presence of pharmaceuticals at low concentrations (ng to μg) in the environment has become a hot spot for researchers in the past decades due to the unknown environmental impact and the possible damages they might have to the plantae and fauna present in the aquatic systems, as well as to the other living organisms. The aim of the present investigation was to develop a bacterial consortium isolated from different origins to evaluate the ability of such a consortium to remove a mixture of pharmaceuticals in the batch system at lab scale, as well as assessment of its resistance to the other micropollutants present in the environment. Using a closed bottle test, biodegradation of the mixed pharmaceuticals including Diclofenac (DCF), Ibuprofen (IBU), and Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) (at a concentration of 3 mg.L of each drug) by the bacterial consortium was investigated. The test was carried out under metabolic (pharmaceutical was used as the sole source of carbon) and co-metabolic condition (in the presence of glucose). Finally, the ability of the bacterial consortium to resist other micropollutants like antibiotics and heavy metals was investigated. Under the metabolic condition, the mixed bacteria (i.e., consortium) were able to metabolize 23.08% and 9.12% of IBU, and DCF at a concentration of 3 mg.L of each drug, respectively. Whereas, in co-metabolic conditions, IBU was eliminated totally, in addition, 56% of the total concentration of DCF was removed, as well. In both metabolic and cometabolic conditions, removal of SMX was not observed. The selected bacteria were able to resist to most of the applied antibiotics and the used heavy metals, except mercury, where only one strain (S4) was resistant to the later heavy metal. Results suggest that the developed consortium might be an excellent candidate for the application in the bioremediation process for treating ecosystems contaminated with the pharmaceutical.

Removal of diclofenac by a local bacterial consortium: UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of metabolites and ecotoxicity assessment

“…This observation was confirmed in our former paper, in which the DCF was better removed by the D15 strain in the presence of glucose (82%) than in metabolic conditions (52%) [21]. The same findings were figured out in conjunction with two strains, D15 and D16, to eliminate a mixture of the drugs, where glucose accelerates drug mix elimination [30]. The results presented differed from the above as the elimination rate of DCF as the single source of carbon is higher than in the presence of a supplemental source of carbon (glucose).…”

Photocatalytic and biodegradation treatments of paracetamol: investigation of the in vivo toxicity

“…Bioremediation is considered as a safe economical, efficient, and sustainable technology for restoring drug molecule-contaminated sites (Zhang et al 2013;Gavrilescu et al 2015). The bacterial classes of Gammaproteobacteria (Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Lysobacter), Betaproteobacteria (Burkholderia, Delftia, Cupriavidus), Alphaproteobacteria (Sphingomonas), and Actinobacteria (Arthrobacter, Rhodococcus) are considered as highly active paracetamoldegrading microorganisms (Zhang et al 2013;Aissaoui et al 2017;Żur et al 2018a, b). It was further reported that some bacterial strains from the genus Pseudomonas could degrade pharmaceuticals including diclofenac, 4aminophenol, ibuprofen, and sulfamethoxazole (Wu et al 2012;Aissaoui et al 2017;Edrees et al 2017b;Żur et al 2018a, b).…”

“…The bacterial classes of Gammaproteobacteria (Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Lysobacter), Betaproteobacteria (Burkholderia, Delftia, Cupriavidus), Alphaproteobacteria (Sphingomonas), and Actinobacteria (Arthrobacter, Rhodococcus) are considered as highly active paracetamoldegrading microorganisms (Zhang et al 2013;Aissaoui et al 2017;Żur et al 2018a, b). It was further reported that some bacterial strains from the genus Pseudomonas could degrade pharmaceuticals including diclofenac, 4aminophenol, ibuprofen, and sulfamethoxazole (Wu et al 2012;Aissaoui et al 2017;Edrees et al 2017b;Żur et al 2018a, b). A number of Pseudomonas strains able to remediate paracetamol present individually or in consortium in aqueous solutions have been reported in literature.…”

Visible Light–Driven Advanced Oxidation Processes to Remove Emerging Contaminants from Water and Wastewater: a Review

“…The number of pharmaceuticals discharged into the environment is an increasingly severe problem. More than 3500 pharmaceutical substances have been identified in surface water and treated wastewater, excluding metabolites and other transformation products (Aissaoui et al, 2017 ).…”