Abstract
Laccase enzyme from white-rot fungi is a potential biocatalyst for the oxidation of emerging contaminants (ECs), such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and steroid hormones. This study aims to develop a three-step platform to treat ECs: (i) enzyme production, (ii) enzyme concentration and (iii) enzyme application. In the first step, solid culture and liquid culture were compared. The solid culture produced significantly more laccase than the liquid culture (447 vs. 74 µM/min after eight days), demonstrating that white rot fungi thrived on a solid medium. In the second step, the enzyme was concentrated 6.6 times using an ultrafiltration (UF) process, resulting in laccase activity of 2980 µM/min. No enzymatic loss due to filtration and membrane adsorption was observed, suggesting the feasibility of the UF membrane for enzyme concentration. In the third step, concentrated crude enzyme was applied in an enzymatic membrane reactor (EMR) to remove a diverse set of ECs (31 compounds in six groups). The EMR effectively removed of steroid hormones, phytoestrogen, ultraviolet (UV) filters and industrial chemical (above 90%). However, it had low removal of pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
Highlights
The occurrence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in water and wastewater has been identified as a critical environmental and health issue
The solid culture produced greater enzyme than the liquid culture (Figure 3) because white rot fungi naturally grow on moist solid materials
This study demonstrated the effectiveness of solid culture over liquid culture of white rot fungi for laccase production
Summary
The occurrence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in water and wastewater has been identified as a critical environmental and health issue. ECs occur only at trace level [3], there is compelling evidence that biologically active compounds such as pesticides, steroid hormones, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, phytoestrogens can cause endocrine disruption as well as Processes 2020, 8, 648; doi:10.3390/pr8060648 www.mdpi.com/journal/processes. Processes 2020, 8, 648 inhibiting the sexual and reproductive growth of wildlife [3,4]. This portends a potential impact to greater ecology as well as human health. The remediation of ECs has been of great interest in recent years. Research efforts have led to innovations in remediation methods (e.g., membrane filtration, advanced oxidation process, membrane bioreactor, and activated carbon adsorption)
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