Seungho Yu

Degradation and toxicity assessment of sulfamethoxazole and chlortetracycline using electron beam, ozone and UV

Recently, the occurrence of antibiotics in sewage treatment plant effluent, as well as drinking water, has raised concern about their potential impacts on the environment and public health. Antibiotics are found in surface and ground waters, which indicate their ineffective removal by conventional wastewater treatment processes. Therefore, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have received considerable attention for the removal of antibiotics. This study was conducted to evaluate the degradation and mineralization of antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole and chlortetracycline) using an electron beam, ozone and UV, and the change of toxicity. Also, the electrical energy consumption based on the EE/O parameter (the electrical energy required per order of pollutants removal in 1 m(3) wastewater) was used to quantify the energy cost associated with the different AOPs (electron beam, ozone and UV) for the degradation of antibiotics. The results showed that an electron beam effective for the removals of both sulfamethoxazole and chlortetracycline in aqueous solutions. However, degradation of the target compounds by ozone and UV showed different trends. The oxidation efficiency of each organic compound was very dependent upon the AOP used. Algal toxicity was significantly reduced after each treatment. However, based on the electrical energy, the electron beam was more efficient than ozone and UV. Electron beam treatment could be an effective and safe method for the removal of antibiotic compounds.

Decomposition and mineralization of cefaclor by ionizing radiation: kinetics and effects of the radical scavengers.

There has been recent growing interest in the presence of antibiotics in different environmental sectors. One considerable concern is the potential development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment, even at low concentrations. Cefaclor, one of the beta-lactam antibiotics, is widely used as an antibiotic. Kinetic studies were conducted to evaluate the decomposition and mineralization of cefaclor using gamma radiation. Cefaclor, 30 mg/l, was completely degraded with 1,000 Gy of gamma radiation. At a concentration of 30 mg/l, the removal efficiency, represented by the G-value, decreased with increasing accumulated radiation dose. Batch kinetic experiments with initial aqueous concentrations of 8.9, 13.3, 20.0 and 30.0mg/l showed the decomposition of cefaclor using gamma radiation followed a pseudo first-order reaction, and the dose constant increased with lower initial concentrations. At a given radiation dose, the G-values increased with higher initial cefaclor concentrations. The experimental results using methanol and thiourea as radical scavengers indicated that ()OH radicals were more closely associated with the radiolytic decomposition of cefaclor than other radicals, such as e(aq)(-) or ()H. The radical scavenger effects were tested under O(2) and N(2)O saturations for the enhancement of the TOC percentage removal efficiencies in the radiolytic decomposition of cefaclor. Under O(2) saturation, 90% TOC removal was observed with 100,000 Gy. Oxygen is well known to play a considerable role in the degradation of organic substances with effective chain reaction pathways. According to the effective radical reactions, the enhanced TOC percentage removal efficiencies might be based on the fast conversion reactions of e(aq)(-) and ()H with O(2) into oxidizing radicals, such as O(2)(-) and HO(2)(), respectively. 100% TOC removal was obtained with N(2)O gas at 20,000 Gy, as reducing radicals, such as e(aq)(-) and ()H, are scavenged by N(2)O and converted into ()OH radicals, which have strong oxidative properties. The results of this study showed that gamma irradiation was very effective for the removal of cefaclor in aqueous solution. The use of O(2) or N(2)O, with radiation, shows promise as effective radical scavengers for enhancing the TOC or COD removal efficiencies in pharmaceutical wastewaters containing antibiotics. However, the biological toxicity and interactions between various chemicals during the radiolytic treatment, as well as treatments under conditions more representative of real wastewater will require further studies.

A comparative study of disinfection efficiency and regrowth control of microorganism in secondary wastewater effluent using UV, ozone, and ionizing irradiation process

Ionizing radiation technology was suggested as an alternative method to disinfection processes, such as chlorine, UV, and ozone. Although many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of irradiation technology for microbial disinfection, there has been a lack of information on comparison studies of disinfection techniques and a regrowth of each treatment. In the present study, an ionizing radiation was investigated to inactivate microorganisms and to determine the critical dose to prevent the regrowth. As a result, it was observed that the disinfection efficiency using ionizing radiation was not affected by the seasonal changes of wastewater characteristics, such as temperature and turbidity. In terms of bacterial regrowth after disinfection, the ionizing radiation showed a significant resistance of regrowth, whereas, on-site UV treatment is influenced by the suspended solid, temperature, or precipitation. The electric power consumption was also compared for the economic feasibility of each technique at a given value of disinfection efficiency of 90% (1-log), showing 0.12, 36.80, and 96.53 Wh/(L/day) for ionizing radiation, ozone, and UV, respectively. The ionizing radiation requires two or three orders of magnitude lower power consumption than UV and ozone. Consequently, ionizing radiation can be applied as an effective and economical alternative technique to other conventional disinfection processes.

Aqueous and dietary bioaccumulation of antibiotic tetracycline in D. magna and its multigenerational transfer

The potential bioaccumulation and distribution of antibiotics in non-target organisms have been inadequately studied in spite of their widespread occurrence in aquatic systems. We investigated the ability of tetracycline to bioaccumulate through aqueous and dietary routes in an aquatic organism, the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna. D. magna was exposed to algal food (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) contaminated with tetracycline for dietary uptake. Tetracycline was transferred to D. magna more through aqueous uptake than through dietary uptake. The uptake rate constant of tetracycline for D. magna was kin,water=0.33±0.045 via the aqueous route and kin,food=0.16±0.012 via the dietary route for 1.0mgL(-1) tetracycline. Bioconcentration factors of 4.40±0.91Lkg(-1) and 3.66±0.50Lkg(-1) for 0.1 and 1.0mgL(-1) tetracycline were found for D. magna. The biomagnification factor of 0.19±0.04 indicates that magnification of tetracycline through the food web will not occur. The change in the internal concentration of the target compound was also studied for multigenerational (F1-F4) exposure. The internal concentration in D. magna showed a decreasing trend with increasing generations except for the parent generation. The bioaccumulation tendency showed a biphasic change in multigenerational exposure.

Reduction of toxicity of antimicrobial compounds by degradation processes using activated sludge, gamma radiation, and UV

The occurrence and persistence of pharmacologically active compounds in the environment has been an increasingly important issue. The objectives of this study were to investigate the decomposition of aqueous antimicrobial compounds using activated sludge, γ-irradiation, and UV treatment, and to evaluate the toxicity towards green algae, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, before and after treatment. Tetracycline (TCN), lincomycin (LMC) and sulfamethazine (SMZ) were used as target compounds. Gamma (γ)-irradiation showed the highest removal efficiency for all target compounds, while UV and activated sludge treatment showed compound-dependent removal efficiencies. TCN and SMZ were well degraded by all three treatment methods. However, LMC showed extremely low removal efficiency for UV and activated sludge treatments. Overall, the algal toxicity after degradation processes was significantly decreased, and was closely correlated to removal efficiency. However, in the case of γ-irradiated TCN, UV and activated sludge treated LMC as well as sludge treated SMZ, the observed toxicity was higher than expected, which indicates the substantial generation of byproducts or transformed compounds of a greater toxicity in the treated sample. Consequently, γ-radiation treatment could be an effective method for removal of recalcitrant compounds such as antibiotics.

Combination of ion exchange system and biological reactors for simultaneous removal of ammonia and organics.

A novel process for a simultaneous removal of ammonia and organics was developed on the basis of ion exchange and biological reactions. From batch experiments, it was found out that NH(4)(+) could be removed effectively by combining cation exchange and biological nitrification showing 0.98 mg N/m(2) ∙ s of a maximum flux. On the other hand, the removal of NO(3)(-) was 3.5 times faster than NH(4)(+) and the maximum flux was calculated to be 3.4 mg N/m(2) ∙ s. The systems for NH(4)(+) and NO(3)(-) removal were combined for establishing the IEBR process. When the process was operated in a continuous mode, approximately 95.8% of NH(4)(+) was removed showing an average flux of 0.22 mg N/m(2) · s. The removal efficiency of total nitrogen was calculated as 94.5% whereas that of organics was 99.5%. It was concluded that the IEBR process would be effectively used for a simultaneous removal of NH(4)(+) and organics.

Photolytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim using UV-A, UV-C and vacuum-UV (VUV)

The photolytic degradation of the non-degradable pharmaceuticals sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) in an aqueous solution was investigated using three kinds of low-pressure mercury lamp UV-A (352 nm), UV-C (254 nm), and vacuum-UV (VUV, 185 nm and 254 nm). The degradation rates were highly dependent on the target compounds as well as the UV sources. No degradation of the target compounds was observed using UV-A treatment, because there was no overlap between the UV-A emission spectrum and absorption spectrum of the target compounds. On the other hand, UVC and VUV revealed higher reactivity. The results also indicated that SMX had a greater potential to react photochemically than TMP. Among the UV sources, VUV was the most effective process for the degradation of target compounds. Furthermore, the addition of oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) to the reaction system improved the overall degradation rate significantly.The experimental results for the VUV-irradiated samples with the addition of methanol as a hydroxyl radical scavenger revealed that hydroxyl radicals contribute significantly to the elimination of the target compound. Overall, the degradation rate of the target compounds was in the order: VUV = UV-C > UV-A for sulfamethoxazole and VUV/H2O2 > VUV/ Na2S2O8 > VUV >UV-C >UV-A for trimethoprim.

Photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol using a Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 composite under UV-A irradiation

Abstract4-Chlorophenol (4-CP), widely used in the production of dyes, drugs, and fungicides is a water pollutant. It can be found in surface water, soil, ecosystems, and the human body. 4-CP is a non-degradable pollutant when subjected to traditional water treatment techniques. The development of advanced oxidation processes provided alternative methods that could potentially be applied to the decomposition of non-degradable compounds; 4-CP could then be removed from water supplies by processes such as photocatalytic degradation. However, the anatase TiO2 typically used in such procedures has a large band gap of 3.2 eV which is only activated by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In this study, a Ag/TiO2/Fe3O4 composite was synthesized from Ag, TiO2, and Fe3O4 owing to the enhanced photocatalytic activity and catalyst recoverability conferred by Ag and Fe3O4, respectively. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, UV–visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, transmis...

Transport and removal of bacteriophages MS2 and PhiX174 in steel slag-amended soils: column experiments and transport model analyses

The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of bacteriophages MS2 and PhiX174 in soils amended with converter furnace steel slag. Column experiments were performed to examine the bacteriophage removal in slag-amended (slag content: 0%, 25%, and 50%) loam soils. For comparison, column experiments were also conducted with Escherichia coli. In addition, chloride (Cl) was used as a conservative tracer to determine transport characteristics. Results showed mass recoveries of Cl of 98.6±3.5%, indicating that the experiments were conducted successfully. The mass recovery of MS2 was 86.7% in no slag (100% soil), decreasing to 0% in slag contents of 25% and 50%. The mass recovery of PhiX174 decreased from 87.8% to 51.5% with increasing slag content from 0% to 50%. In the case of E. coli, the mass recoveries decreased from 47.0% to 10.5% with increasing slag content from 0% to 50%. In the transport models analyses, the HYDRUS-1D code was used to quantify the sorption parameters from breakthrough curves. For the 100% soil column, a one-site kinetic sorption model was fitted to the data, whereas a two-site kinetic sorption model was fitted for slag-amended (25% and 50% slag) soil data. Results demonstrate that the addition of steel slag to soil enhances the removal of bacteriophages due to the presence of FeO in the steel slag. However, CaO could not contribute to the bacteriophage removal in our experimental conditions because the effluent pH (7.7–8.9) in slag-amended (25% and 50% slag) soils was not high enough to promote the bacteriophage inactivation.

Multigenerational Effects of the Antibiotic Tetracycline on Transcriptional Responses of Daphnia magna and Its Relationship to Higher Levels of Biological Organizations

Given the risk of environmental pollution by pharmaceutical compounds and the effects of these compounds on exposed ecosystems, ecologically relevant and realistic assessments are required. However, many studies have been mostly focused on individual responses in a single generation exposed to one-effect concentrations. Here, transcriptional responses of the crustacean Daphnia magna to the antibiotic tetracycline across multiple generations and effect concentrations were investigated. The results demonstrated that tetracycline induced different transcriptional responses of daphnids that were dependent on dose and generation. For example, reproduction-related expressed sequence tags (ESTs), including vitellogenin, were distinctly related to the dose-dependent tetracycline exposure, whereas multigenerational exposure induced significant change of molting-related ESTs such as cuticle protein. A total of 65 ESTs were shared in all contrasts, suggesting a conserved mechanism of tetracycline toxicity regardless of exposure concentration or time. Most of them were associated with general stress responses including translation, protein and carbohydrate metabolism, and oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, effects across the dose-response curve showed higher correlative connections among transcriptional, physiological, and individual responses than multigenerational effects. In the multigenerational exposure, the connectivity between adjacent generations decreased with increasing generation number. The results clearly highlight that exposure concentration and time trigger different mechanisms and functions, providing further evidence that multigenerational and dose-response effects cannot be neglected in environmental risk assessment.