A review on anammox process for the treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater: Linking effects with corresponding mechanisms

Abstract

Antibiotic is widely present in the effluent from livestock husbandry and the pharmaceutical industry. Antibiotics in wastewater usually have high biological toxicity and even promote the occurrence and transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Moreover, most antibiotic-containing wastewatercontains highconcentration of ammonia nitrogen. Improper treatment will lead to high risk to the surrounding environment and even human health. The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) with great economic benefit and good treatment effect is a promising process to remove nitrogen from antibiotic-containing wastewater. However, antibiotic inhibition has been observed in anammox applications. Therefore, a comprehensive overview of the single and combined effects of various antibiotics on the anammox system is conducted in this review with a focus on nitrogen removal performance, sludge properties, microbial community, antibiotic resistance genes and anammox-involved functional genes. Additionally, the influencing mechanism of antibiotics on anammox consortia is summarized. Remaining problems and future research needs are also proposed based on the presented summary. This review provides a better understanding of the influences of antibiotics on anammox and offers a direction to remove nitrogen from antibiotic-containing wastewater by the anammox process.