Degradation of typical antibiotics during human feces aerobic composting under different temperatures

Abstract

Four typical antibiotics were added to human feces for aerobic composting using batch reactors with sawdust as the bulk matrix. Under three composting temperatures (room temperature, 35 ± 2 °C and 55 ± 2 °C), decreases in the extractable concentrations of antibiotics in the compost were monitored for 20 days. As a result, the removals of extractable tetracycline and chlortetracycline were found to be more temperature-dependent than the removals of sulfadiazine and ciprofloxacin. However, more than 90 % of all of the extractable antibiotics were removed at 55 ± 2 °C. Three specific experiments were further conducted to identify the possible actions for antibiotic removal, including self-degradation in aqueous solution, composting with a moist sterile sawdust matrix without adding feces and composting with human feces and moist sterile sawdust. As a result, it was found that the removal of tetracycline and chlortetracycline was mainly due to chemical degradation in water, whereas the removal of sulfadiazine was mainly attributed to adsorption onto sawdust particles. The microbial activity of compost varied with temperature to a certain extent, but the differences were insignificant among different antibiotics. Although microbial action is important for organic matter decomposition, its contribution to antibiotic degradation was small for the investigated antibiotics, except for ciprofloxacin, which was degraded by up to 20 % due to microbial action.

From Sewage Sludge to the Soil—Transfer of Pharmaceuticals: A Review

“…Only 18% of estrogens were removed under aerobic conditions [ 46 ]. Meanwhile, a reduction of up to 97–99% of the content of some antibiotics (tetracycline, chlortetracycline) in the sludge after the composting process was observed [ 47 ]. One may notice that the temperature of the process is also important.…”

Numerical study of the antibiotic transport and distribution in the Laizhou Bay, China

“…Degradation is an important metabolic process for environmental antibiotics, and antibiotics are likely to be degraded through multiple processes in aquatic systems owing to the abundant illumination of the water surface and rapid growth rate of microorganisms (Hallingsørensen and Jørgensen 2000) such as hydrolysis, photolysis and biodegradation (Shi et al 2016). Hydrolysis is mainly affected by a pH (Min and Lu 2013).…”

Differences in Tetracycline Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Microbial Community Structure During Aerobic Composting and Anaerobic Digestion

“…Microorganisms play a crucial role in the degradation of antibiotics and as hosts for ARGs during both AC and AD processes (Mitchell et al, 2013;Shi et al, 2016). Zhang et al (2006) indicated that composting is a new alternative bioremediation technology for the treatment of antibiotics.…”