Removal of a mixture of veterinary medicinal products by adsorption onto a Scenedesmus almeriensis microalgae-bacteria consortium

Pedro Antonio García-Encina,Rubén Irusta-Mata,Félix Hernández,Johanna Zambrano,Juan J. Jiménez,Ana M. Botero-Coy

doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102226

Pedro Antonio García-Encina, Rubén Irusta-Mata + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102226

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Abstract

The adsorption of the veterinary medicinal products (VMP) tetracycline (TET), ciprofloxacin (CIP), sulfadiazine (SDZ) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) onto a dried Scenedesmus almeriensis microalgae-bacteria consortium was studied at several equilibrium concentrations (20 to 1000 μg/L). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis were performed to investigate the surface morphology of the microalgae and to identify the effect of the antibiotics´ functional groups on the surface of the consortium of S. almeriensis and bacteria. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to determine the feasibility of this consortium for the removal of antibiotics via biosorption. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models were used for the mathematical description of the adsorption equilibrium. Pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic models were applied to fit the biosorption experimental data. Relative antibiotic removal was higher at low equilibrium concentrations. In the range of the initial VMP concentration studied, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline exhibited the highest removal efficiency of 43–100% and 75–82%, respectively. Likewise, ciprofloxacin and tetraciclyne presented the highest adsorption rates of 0.11–26.66 and 1.78–27.09 mg·μg−1·h−1, respectively. This study revealed that the S. almeriensis-bacteria consortium has a high biosorption power and proved that biosorption is an important mechanism in the removal of ciprofloxacin and tetraciclyne using a microalgae-based water treatment process. However, sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole removals did not exceed 32%.

Highlights

Demand for veterinary antibiotics has increased significantly in the last decades
The most frequently found veterinary medicinal products (VMP) in manure worldwide were fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines [4], a determination which was rein forced by a critical review of Cheng et al [5], who stated that these antibiotic families were the most common VMP used in swine produc tion
A Scenedesmus almeriensis-bacteria consortium can be an effective biosorbent for antibiotic removal as it presents an especially tough cell wall with cellulose, algaenan and glycoproteins [18,23]

Summary

Introduction

Demand for veterinary antibiotics has increased significantly in the last decades. Fluo roquinolones, sulfonamides and tetracycline were the most abundant VMP found in water in the United States in 2017 [2] and were the most sold VMP in European countries in 2018 [3]. The most frequently found VMP in manure worldwide were fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines [4], a determination which was rein forced by a critical review of Cheng et al [5], who stated that these antibiotic families were the most common VMP used in swine produc tion. About 70 to 90% of antibiotics administered are excreted via urine or feces either in unchanged forms or as metabolites. Via sludge storage or by using manure as fertilizer, veterinary antibiotics are released into the environment, which affects soil and water quality. Antibiotics have been detected in different water samples, such as surface water, groundwater and municipal wastewater [4,5,6]

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