Antibiotics in the aquatic environment - A review - Part II

A review on emerging contaminants in wastewaters and the environment: current knowledge, understudied areas and recommendations for future monitoring.

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in water environments

The use of zero-valent iron for groundwater remediation and wastewater treatment: a review.

In the last few decades, pharmaceuticals, credited with saving millions of lives, have emerged as a new class of environmental contaminant. These compounds can have both chronic and acute harmful effects on natural flora and fauna. The presence of pharmaceutical contaminants in ground waters, surface waters (lakes, rivers, and streams), sea water, wastewater treatment plants (influents and effluents), soils, and sludges has been well doccumented. A range of methods including oxidation, photolysis, UV-degradation, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and adsorption has been used for their remediation from aqueous systems. Many methods have been commercially limited by toxic sludge generation, incomplete removal, high capital and operating costs, and the need for skilled operating and maintenance personnel. Adsorption technologies are a low-cost alternative, easily used in developing countries where there is a dearth of advanced technologies, skilled personnel, and available capital, and adsorption appears to be the most broadly feasible pharmaceutical removal method. Adsorption remediation methods are easily integrated with wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Herein, we have reviewed the literature (1990-2018) illustrating the rising environmental pharmaceutical contamination concerns as well as remediation efforts emphasizing adsorption.

Pharmaceuticals of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Systems: Chemistry, Occurrence, Effects, and Removal Methods.

The effect of solution chemistry (pH, sorbate-to-sorbent ratio, ionic strength (I)) and reaction time on the sorption of tetracycline to the hydrous oxides of Al (HAO) and Fe (HFO) was examined. Sorption to HAO increased with increasing pH up to pH 7 (no such trend for HFO) above which it decreased at higher pH values for both the hydrous oxides. Experimental results indicate that ligand-promoted dissolution is occurring during tetracycline sorption to these hydrous oxides. Ligand-promoted dissolution was more significant for HAO than HFO attributable to the difference in labile surface sites between these two sorbents. The ability of tetracycline to form strong complexes with Al and Fe will increase the solubility of these minerals. Sorption of tetracycline was quite rapid and equilibrium was achieved after 8 h. However, soluble metal (Me:  Al or Fe) concentrations attained equilibrium only after 24 h. Ligand-promoted dissolution appears to be a two-step process; initially, 1:1 Me-tetracycline soluble co...

Interaction of Tetracycline with Aluminum and Iron Hydrous Oxides

Solution chemistry (pH, ionic strength (I), and sorbate-to-sorbent ratio) effects on ciprofloxacin sorption to hydrous oxides of Al (HAO) and Fe (HFO) were investigated using macroscopic and spectroscopic analyses. Sorption to both HAO and HFO showed a strong pH-dependent behavior, following the fraction of zwitterionic species over the entire pH range studied. Increase in I from 0.01 to 0.5 M had an insignificant effect on the extent of ciprofloxacin sorption, and isotherms were well-described by the Langmuir model. HFO possessed a higher sorption capacity (0.066 mmol kg(-1)) than HAO (0.041 mmol kg(-1)). Ligand-promoted dissolution of hydrous oxides, more pronounced for HAO, was observed in the presence of ciprofloxacin, but at a fairly high initial concentration (0.5 mM). Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis indicated that different types of ciprofloxacin surface complexes are formed with HAO and HFO; while a monodentate mononuclear complex (with -COO-) appears likely between ciprofloxacin and HAO, keto O and one O from COO- seem to be involved in the formation of a six-membered ring with Fe on the HFO surface. The study results are expected to increase our understanding of the environmental reactivity of fluoroquinolones, an important class of antimicrobial compounds.

Sorption of the antimicrobial ciprofloxacin to aluminum and iron hydrous oxides.

Complexation of the antibiotic tetracycline with humic acid.

Humic substances, by altering the surface properties and/ or competing for available reaction sites, can either suppress or promote sorption of organic compounds to mineral surfaces. Limited literature evidence points to the reduction in sorption of the antibiotic tetracycline to clay minerals in the presence of humic substances. We investigated the surface interaction of Elliott soil humic acid (ESHA) with hydrous Al oxide (HAO) and the effect of this association on tetracycline sorption. Strong interaction between ESHA and HAO led to ESHA-promoted dissolution of HAO and surface charge reversal. The ESHA-HAO sorption-desorption isotherms were successfully described using a modified Langmuir model that accounted for the heterogeneity of HAO surface and ESHA Ligand exchange was proposed as the major interaction mechanism, and the edge Al atoms on HAO surface were considered as the sorption sites for ESHA macromolecules. ESHA was coated onto HAO to achieve two different organic content (f oc ) levels of 0.81 and 1.52%. Sorption results were compared for the binary ESHA-tetracycline and HAO-tetracycline systems, and the ternary ESHA-HAO-tecracycline system. The coating of ESHA on HAO significantly suppressed tetracycline sorption levels, attributable to altered HAO surface charge characteristics and/or direct competition between ESHA and tetracycline for potential sorption sites. Higher f oc level, besides increasing the extent of sorption suppression, also resulted in greater ionic strength dependence and increased nonlinearity of sorption behavior. It, therefore, appears that the presence of humic substances, in both dissolved and mineral-bound forms, is likely to increase the environmental mobility of tetracycline compounds.

Sorption of the antibiotic tetracycline to humic-mineral complexes.

http://en.jaas.ac.cn/upload_linkfile/day_141229/201412291313119455.pdf

Cheng Gu

Papers

Interaction of Tetracycline with Aluminum and Iron Hydrous Oxides

Sorption of the antimicrobial ciprofloxacin to aluminum and iron hydrous oxides.

Complexation of the antibiotic tetracycline with humic acid.

Sorption of the antibiotic tetracycline to humic-mineral complexes.

Impact of woodchip biochar amendment on the sorption and dissipation of pesticide acetamiprid in agricultural soils