AUTHOR=Tiwari Bhagyashree , Ouarda Yassine , Drogui Patrick , Tyagi Rajeshwar D. , Vaudreuil Marc Antoine , Sauvé Sébastien , Buelna Gerardo , Dubé Rino TITLE=Fate of Pharmaceuticals in a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor Treating Hospital Wastewater JOURNAL=Frontiers in Water VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2021 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2021.730479 DOI=10.3389/frwa.2021.730479 ISSN=2624-9375 ABSTRACT=

The fate of 12 pharmaceutical pollutants was investigated to understand their removal mechanism during hospital wastewater (HWW) treatment in submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR). High concentrations of anti-depressant (venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine), analgesic (ibuprofen and hydroxy-ibuprofen), and caffeine were detected in the HWW during the entire study period. The SMBR showed high removal >70% of antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole and clarithromycin), beta-blocker (acebutolol), hormone (estrone), and caffeine via biodegradation. The partial degradation of diclofenac, venlafaxine, and desvenlafaxine in SMBR indicates the growth promoter or agent requirement, which could facilitate the metabolism and co-metabolism of these pharmaceuticals by microorganisms. The study demonstrated that the major removal mechanism of pharmaceuticals in SMBR at optimized treatment conditions was biodegradation for the majority of examined pharmaceuticals. The assessment of SMBR performance at the low temperature of 15 and 10°C resulted in the drop of biodegradation efficiency of SMBR, affecting overall pharmaceuticals removal.