Removal of Emerging Pollutants, Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Water

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 9580

Special Issue Editors

School of Environment, South China Normal University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: antibiotics; antibiotic resistance genes; biological wastewater treatment; granular sludge; micropollutant removal; biological nitrogen removal; environment engineering microbiology
School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Interests: biological wastewater treatment processes; anammox; denitrification
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging pollutants are chemicals and compounds recently identified as dangerous to the environment and, consequently, to human health. Emerging pollutants include a variety of compounds, such as antibiotics, drugs, steroids, endocrine disruptors, hormones, industrial additives, microplastics, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and so on. Antibiotics are widespread in various environments due to their broad application and are recognized as one kind of emerging pollutant. Antibiotic resistance driven by persistent antibiotics in the environment has also become a growing concern.

Emerging pollutants, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been frequently detected in different aquatic environments, posing a potential risk to the ecosystem and public health. Properly designed and operated water treatment processes can serve as effective final barriers for reducing the quantity of emerging pollutants/antibiotics/ARGs discharged into the environment. To control the propagation of antimicrobial resistance in the environment, it is essential to comprehensively understand the elimination and inactivation of emerging pollutants/antibiotics/ARGs by various water treatment processes.

This Special Issue, titled “Removal of Emerging Pollutants, Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Water”, aims to present novel and efficient removal technologies for emerging pollutants, antibiotics, or ARGs from wastewater or drinking water and to elucidate the potential mechanisms of various water treatment processes to help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

  • Physicochemical treatment of emerging pollutants/antibiotics/ARGs.
  • Biological treatment of emerging pollutants/antibiotics/ARGs.
  • Elimination mechanisms of emerging pollutants/antibiotics/ARGs.
  • Development of antibiotic resistance genes in water treatment processes.

Dr. Yijing Shi
Dr. Yanyan Jia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • emerging pollutants
  • antibiotics
  • antibiotic resistance genes
  • wastewater
  • drinking water
  • physicochemical water treatment
  • biological water treatment
  • elimination mechanisms
  • development of antibiotic resistance genes

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2309 KiB  
Article
Highly Efficient Degradation of Sulfisoxazole by Natural Chalcopyrite-Activated Peroxymonosulfate: Reactive Species and Effects of Water Matrices
by Wei Zhou, Yu Li, Min Zhang, Guang-Guo Ying and Yong Feng
Water 2022, 14(21), 3450; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14213450 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1284
Abstract
In this study, chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), a natural mineral with a bimetallic structure, was used as the activator to generate radicals for removing organic pollutants from aqueous solutions via the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Sulfisoxazole (SIX), a sulfonamide antibiotic, was selected as [...] Read more.
In this study, chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), a natural mineral with a bimetallic structure, was used as the activator to generate radicals for removing organic pollutants from aqueous solutions via the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Sulfisoxazole (SIX), a sulfonamide antibiotic, was selected as the model pollutant. The results showed that chalcopyrite was highly reactive toward the activation of PMS; under the conditions of 50 µM PMS and 1 g/L chalcopyrite, approximately 95.7% of the SIX was degraded after reaction for only 5 min. An increase in the loading of chalcopyrite (0.25–2 g/L) promoted the degradation of SIX, while elevated levels of PMS (0.05–0.5 mM) slightly retarded the degradation kinetics. Although the best performance was observed under acidic conditions (pHs 3 and 4), near complete degradation of SIX was also achieved at pH 5.5. Identification of reactive species revealed that both a hydroxyl radical and a sulfate radical were formed in chalcopyrite–PMS oxidation, and they were responsible for the degradation of SIX. Trace amounts of copper and iron were leached out from chalcopyrite during the activation, and both the heterogeneous and homogeneous activation of PMS contributed to the generation of oxidizing radicals. Common water constituents including Cl, HCO3, and natural organic matter at their environmentally relevant levels showed a limited effect on the degradation of SIX, which suggests that chalcopyrite–PMS oxidation has high reactivity and stability in the degradation of organic pollutants and shows great practical application potential. Full article
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13 pages, 2385 KiB  
Article
Insight into the Removal of Enoxacin in an Anaerobic Sulfur-Mediated Wastewater Treatment System: Performance, Kinetics and Mechanisms
by Yujian Yan, Yuyi Ou, Boyi Yang, Yanyan Jia, Lianpeng Sun and Hui Lu
Water 2022, 14(18), 2896; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182896 - 16 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1384
Abstract
The removal of enoxacin (ENO), a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic, was firstly examined in a sulfate-reducing up-flow sludge bed (SRUSB) bioreactor over a long-term operation (366 days). Over 94% of the ENO was removed in the SRUSB bioreactor via adsorption and biodegradation at different [...] Read more.
The removal of enoxacin (ENO), a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic, was firstly examined in a sulfate-reducing up-flow sludge bed (SRUSB) bioreactor over a long-term operation (366 days). Over 94% of the ENO was removed in the SRUSB bioreactor via adsorption and biodegradation at different initial ENO concentrations (i.e., 25–1000 μg/L). Based on the results of the batch tests, the sulfate-reducing sludge exhibited a high ENO adsorption capacity within a kd of 22.7–28.9 L/g-SS. The adsorption of ENO by the sulfate-reducing sludge was a spontaneous (ΔG° < 0 KJ/mol) and exothermic (ΔH° < 0 KJ/mol) process including physisorption and chemisorption (absolute value of ΔH° = 51.882 KJ/mol). Moreover, ENO was effectively biodegraded by the sulfate-reducing sludge within specific rates of 2.5–161.3 μg/g-SS/d. The ENO biodegradation process in the sulfate-reducing sludge system was most accurately described by the first-order kinetic model. Collectively, our findings provide insight into the applicability of a sulfate-reducing sludge system for ENO-contaminated wastewater treatment. Full article
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13 pages, 2012 KiB  
Article
Aging of Carbon Nanotubes Increases Their Adsorption towards Tetracycline
by Xinxin Zhao, Huayu Liu, Zhen Yan and Chao Song
Water 2022, 14(17), 2731; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14172731 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1860
Abstract
Due to wide range of their applications, a large amount of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is discharged into natural water. As an inevitable environmental fate, aging changes the physicochemical properties of carbon nanotubes, which in turn affects their interactions with other pollutants. In this [...] Read more.
Due to wide range of their applications, a large amount of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is discharged into natural water. As an inevitable environmental fate, aging changes the physicochemical properties of carbon nanotubes, which in turn affects their interactions with other pollutants. In this study, the aging of CNTs accelerated with non-thermal plasma, and the interaction between aged CNTs and tetracycline were explored. The physicochemical properties of CNTs after aging were evaluated with specific surface area, zeta potential, FTIR, Raman, and XPS analysis. Adsorption and site energy distribution analyses were applied to explore the interaction between aged carbon nanotubes and tetracycline antibiotics. After aging, the specific surface area of carbon nanotubes decreases, defects increase, and the crystal morphology is disordered. More oxygen-containing functional groups are generated on the CNTs surface, including carbonyl, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups. In addition, aged CNTs exhibited higher adsorption capacity for tetracycline. The results indicate that carbon nanotubes can adsorb more tetracycline after aging, which means that more antibiotics such as tetracycline may be enriched and transported on carbon nanotubes. Full article
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11 pages, 2320 KiB  
Article
Efficacy of the Toxicity Control during the Degradation of TBBPA by Ozonation
by Qi Han, Wenyi Dong, Hongjie Wang, Boping Yu, Peng Liu, Linshen Xie and Zhiguang Dai
Water 2022, 14(16), 2543; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162543 - 18 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1256
Abstract
This study has focused on the evaluation of the biotoxicity controlling effects during the TBBPA degradation by ozonation, including the acute, chronic and genetic toxicity under different [O3]/[TBBPA] (1:1–11:1), initial solution pH (5.0–9.0) and temperatures (10–40 °C). In addition, the comprehensive [...] Read more.
This study has focused on the evaluation of the biotoxicity controlling effects during the TBBPA degradation by ozonation, including the acute, chronic and genetic toxicity under different [O3]/[TBBPA] (1:1–11:1), initial solution pH (5.0–9.0) and temperatures (10–40 °C). In addition, the comprehensive biotoxicity of the treated water sample was evaluated by the method of potential ecotoxic effects probe (PEEP). The results showed that TBBPA could be completely degraded with an initial solution pH of 7.0, temperature of 25 °C and an [O3]/[TBBPA] ratio of 9:1. The chronic toxicity of the untreated sample was as high as 41.7 TU, which represented the main toxicity of TBBPA itself. In contrast, the TBBPA showed a much lower acute and genetic toxicity in this study. During the process of TBBPA degradation, the ozonation could effectively control the toxicity of wastewater and showed strong adaptability. When the ratio of [O3]/[TBBPA] was 11:1, the acute and chronic toxicity were reduced to 0.02 TU and 0.76 TU, respectively, with the controlling rates being as high as 96% and 98.2% and meeting the emission standards. The mutagenicity ratio of the water sample was less than 2.0, indicating no genotoxicity risk. The evaluation of the comprehensive biological toxicity showed that ozonation could control the PEEP value below 2.0 in ranges of low [O3]/[TBBPA] ratio (3:1), wide pH (5–9) and temperatures (10–40 °C). Full article
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Review

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15 pages, 2012 KiB  
Review
Direct and Activated Chlorine Dioxide Oxidation for Micropollutant Abatement: A Review on Kinetics, Reactive Sites, and Degradation Pathway
by Xiaohong Ma, Huan Chen, Ruihuan Chen and Xiaojun Hu
Water 2022, 14(13), 2028; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14132028 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2508
Abstract
Recently, ClO2-based oxidation has attracted increasing attention to micropollutant abatement, due to high oxidation potential, low disinfection byproduct (DBPs) formation, and easy technical implementation. However, the kinetics, reactive sites, activation methods, and degradation pathways involved are not fully understood. Therefore, we [...] Read more.
Recently, ClO2-based oxidation has attracted increasing attention to micropollutant abatement, due to high oxidation potential, low disinfection byproduct (DBPs) formation, and easy technical implementation. However, the kinetics, reactive sites, activation methods, and degradation pathways involved are not fully understood. Therefore, we reviewed current literature on ClO2-based oxidation in micropollutant abatement. In direct ClO2 oxidation, the reactions of micropollutants with ClO2 followed second-order reaction kinetics (kapp = 10−3–106 M−1 s−1 at neutral pH). The kapp depends significantly on the molecular structures of the micropollutant and solution pH. The reactive sites of micropollutants start with certain functional groups with the highest electron densities including piperazine, sulfonyl amido, amino, aniline, pyrazolone, phenol groups, urea group, etc. The one-electron transfer was the dominant micropollutant degradation pathway, followed by indirect oxidation by superoxide anion radical (O2•−) or hydroxyl radical (OH). In UV-activated ClO2 oxidation, the reactions of micropollutants followed the pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics with the rates of 1.3 × 10−4–12.9 s−1 at pH 7.0. Their degradation pathways include direct ClO2 oxidation, direct UV photolysis, ozonation, OH-involved reaction, and reactive chlorine species (RCS)-involved reaction. Finally, we identified the research gaps and provided recommendations for further research. Therefore, this review gives a critical evaluation of ClO2-based oxidation in micropollutant abatement, and provides recommendations for further research. Full article
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