Performance of secondary wastewater treatment methods for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern implicated in crop uptake and antibiotic resistance spread: A review

Abstract

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Assessment of a Ficus benjamina wood chip‐based aerated biofilter used for the removal of metformin and ciprofloxacin during domestic wastewater treatment

“…Metformin is one of the most used drugs in the world for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus . It has a molecular weight of 129.1 g mol –1 , ionization (pKa) of 12.25 and an octanol–water partition coefficient (log K ow ) of −2.48 to −4.92, indicating that the drug is highly soluble in water and that higher amounts may be adsorbed on solids . After oral administration of 500 mg metformin, 70% was recovered in urine and 30% in faeces .…”

“…Studies have shown that metformin has been detected in surface water at higher concentrations of 0.12–9.2 µg L –1 in the United States and 1–1.7 µg L –1 in Germany . Concentrations from 56.8 to 129 µg L –1 in the wastewater's influent and from 0.76 to 81 µg L –1 in the wastewater's effluent were detected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Germany, Canada and Switzerland . In Mexico, the occurrence of metformin in two WWTPs was detected in concentrations within a range of 13.4 to 94.6 µg L –1 .…”

“…The antimicrobial agents including fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, sulphonamides and macrolides are the most important antibiotic groups, and are commonly used as drugs in both humans and animals. However, they may represent a major threat to the environment, because they can generate antibiotic resistance bacteria and their associated antibiotic resistance genes and lead to the expansion of pathogenic organisms' resistance to antimicrobial agents . It has been reported that the effluents from WWTPs are the principal source of the release of these antibiotics to the environment .…”

“…This antibiotic is commonly used to treat different types of conditions and diseases including infectious diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, skin infections, typhoid fever and urinary tract infections . Ciprofloxacin has a molecular weight of 331.34 g mol –1 , ionization (pKa) of 5.9 and an octanol–water partition coefficient (log K ow ) of 0.28–0.40, indicating that it is not soluble in water . So, in order to grant its passing through the cell membranes of patients, it is used as hydrochlorinated salt.…”

“…It is eliminated through urine (60%) without alterations. Concentrations of between 0.047 and 3.35 µg L –1 of ciprofloxacin have been reported in wastewater …”