Fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes during conventional and additional treatment technologies in wastewater treatment plants

Sabri, N.A.; Holst, S. van; Schmitt, Heike; Zaan, B.M. van der; Gerritsen, H.W.; Rijnaarts, H.H.M.; Langenhoff, Alette

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140199

Cited by 153 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 110 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As a result, antibiotics are being found in natural water bodies across the whole world [4,9,12]-concentrations of different antibiotics from various classes found in surface waters, in areas away from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and industrial production sites, are depicted in Figure 2. Although individual antibiotics are always detected at quite low concentrations, ranging from ng/L to µg/L [10,17], the simultaneous presence of several antibiotics even at low concentrations might result in their much stronger cumulative effect [14,16]. Properties of antibiotics clearly demonstrate why their presence in natural aquatic environment is highly undesirable: antibiotics are, first of all, persistent, so that they are non-degradable and are able to withstand natural decomposition [1,6,18].…”

Section: Antibiotics Occurrence In Aqueous Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This, together with their high consumption both in human and veterinary medicine, contributes to wide occurrence of ciprofloxacin, from WWTP effluents to drinking water [6,27,28]. Sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin have been identified in hospital wastewater with concentrations up to 35.5 µg/L [17,29,30]. Besides, sulfanomides and fluoroquinolones have demonstrated very high toxicity of aquatic organisms, especially to cyanobacteria, freshwater algae and duckweeds [10].…”

Section: Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin As Antibiotics Of Great Concernmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, they have strong potential in leading to negative ecological and human health effects [16,36]. Unfortunately, there are no legal regulations that define permitted levels of antibiotics or ARB and ARGs allowed to be released into the environment [2,16,17].…”

Section: Antimicrobial Resistance As a Global Health Crisismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The usage of farming animal manure and WWTP sludge contaminated with antibiotics as fertilizer also results in the occurrence of antibiotics in ground water [1]. This is because 30 to 90% of oral antibiotic doses taken both by humans and animals are excreted in its unmetabolized form [1,6,17]. This means that antibiotics can be released into the environment as entirely biologically active substances [37,38].…”

Section: Pathways Of Antibiotics Release Into Aquatic Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Application of TiO2-Based Photocatalysts to Antibiotics Degradation: Cases of Sulfamethoxazole, Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The extensive application of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine has led to their widespread occurrence in a natural aquatic environment. Global health crisis is associated with the fast development of antimicrobial resistance, as more and more infectious diseases cannot be treated more than once. Sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin are the most commonly detected antibiotics in water systems worldwide. The persistent and toxic nature of these antibiotics makes their elimination by conventional treatment methods at wastewater treatment plants almost impossible. The application of advanced oxidation processes and heterogeneous photocatalysis over TiO2-based materials is a promising solution. This highly efficient technology has the potential to be sustainable, cost-efficient and energy-efficient. A comprehensive review on the application of various TiO2-based photocatalysts for the degradation of sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin is focused on highlighting their photocatalytic performance under various reaction conditions (different amounts of pollutant and photocatalyst, pH, light source, reaction media, presence of inorganic ions, natural organic matter, oxidants). Mineralization efficiency and ecotoxicity of final products have been also considered. Further research needs have been presented based on the literature findings. Among them, design and development of highly efficient under sunlight, stable, recyclable and cost-effective TiO2-based materials; usage of real wastewaters for photocatalytic tests; and compulsory assessment of products ecotoxicity are the most important research tasks in order to meet requirements for industrial application.

show abstract

Section: Antibiotics Occurrence In Aqueous Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin As Antibiotics Of Great Concernmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Antimicrobial Resistance As a Global Health Crisismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pathways Of Antibiotics Release Into Aquatic Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Application of TiO2-Based Photocatalysts to Antibiotics Degradation: Cases of Sulfamethoxazole, Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The main entry of human-medicine antibiotics into the environment takes place through wastewater and sewage sludge, after domestic use. In fact, it has been reported that the direct application of wastewater in irrigation, or the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer in agricultural soils, can be the main source of antimicrobials to the edaphic environment [10][11][12][13], as wastewater treatment plants usually do not eliminate these pollutants [14][15][16][17]. Excessive concentrations of these drugs in the soil could affect food quality, the safety of crop production, and the health of the environment, bearing in mind that these contaminants move through environmental compartments and the food chain, especially after being absorbed by plants [18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retention of the Antibiotic Cefuroxime onto Agricultural and Forest Soils

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antibiotics in wastewater, sewage sludge, manures, and slurries constitute a risk for the environment when spread on soils. This work studies the adsorption and desorption of the antibiotic cefuroxime (CFX) in 23 agricultural and forest soils, using batch-type experiments. Our results show that the adsorption values were between 40.75 and 99.57% in the agricultural soils, while the range was lower (from 74.57 to 93.46%) in forest soils. Among the Freundlich, Langmuir, and Linear models, the Freundlich equation shows the best fit for the adsorption results. In addition, agricultural soils with higher pH are the ones that present the highest adsorption. Further confirmation of the influence of pH on adsorption is given by the fact that Freundlich’s KF parameter and the Linear model Kd parameter shows a positive correlation with pH and with the exchangeable Ca and Mg values, which are known to affect the charges of the soil colloids and the formation of cationic bridges between adsorbents and adsorbate. In addition, Freundlich’s n parameter shows a positive and significant correlation with the organic matter content, related to the high adsorption taking place on forest soils despite their pH < 5. Regarding desorption, in most cases, it is lower than 1%, which indicates that CFX is adsorbed in a rather irreversible way onto these soils. Overall, these results can be considered relevant regarding their potential impact on environmental quality and public health.

show abstract

Comparative removal of pharmaceuticals in aqueous phase by agricultural waste‐based biochars

Fu,

Chen,

Sleiman

et al. 2023

Water Environment Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The intensification of pharmaceutical use globally has led to an increase in the number of water bodies contaminated by drugs, and an effective strategy must be developed to address this issue. In this work, several biochars produced from Miscanthus straw pellets (MSP550, MSP700) and wheat straw pellets (WSP550, WSP700) at 550 and 700°C, respectively, were selected as adsorbents for removing various pharmaceuticals, such as pemetrexed (PEME), sulfaclozine (SCL), and terbutaline (TBL), from the aqueous phase. The biochar characterizations (physicochemical properties, textural properties, morphological structures, and zeta potentials) and adsorptive conditions (contact times, temperatures, and pH effect) were investigated. The infrared and Raman spectra of biochars before and after pharmaceutical adsorption, as well as quantum chemical computations, were carried out to explore the adsorption mechanisms. The results showed that the general adsorption abilities of biochars for pharmaceuticals were in the order of WSP700 > MSP700 > MSP550 > WSP550. Both the higher drug concentration and higher temperature improved biochar adsorption. By decreasing the pH, the adsorption amounts increased for PEME and SCL. However, TBL exhibited the best adsorption at pH 7, whereas a weakening of affinity occurred at lower or higher pH values. Electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding were the main adsorptive mechanisms between all biochars and pharmaceuticals. π–π interactions played a role in the adsorption process of low‐temperature‐prepared biochars (MSP550 and WSP550). This work can provide new insights into the control of pharmaceuticals from water with low‐cost adsorbents.Practitioner Points Use of biochars for pharmaceuticals removal from aqueous phase. Characterization of biochars : physical and chemical properties, textural and surface properties. Simulation calculation for characterization of pharmaceuticals. Kinetic studies of pharmaceuticals adsorption on biochars. DRIFTS and Raman analysis for the understanding of adsorption process.

show abstract

Fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes during conventional and additional treatment technologies in wastewater treatment plants

Cited by 153 publications

References 110 publications

Application of TiO2-Based Photocatalysts to Antibiotics Degradation: Cases of Sulfamethoxazole, Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin

Application of TiO2-Based Photocatalysts to Antibiotics Degradation: Cases of Sulfamethoxazole, Trimethoprim and Ciprofloxacin

Retention of the Antibiotic Cefuroxime onto Agricultural and Forest Soils

Comparative removal of pharmaceuticals in aqueous phase by agricultural waste‐based biochars

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About