TY - JOUR
T1 - Removal of cytostatic drugs from wastewater by an anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor
AU - Wang, Xinhua
AU - Zhang, Jiefeng
AU - Chang, Victor W.C.
AU - She, Qianhong
AU - Tang, Chuyang Y.
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Cytostatic drugs, mainly used as chemotherapy compounds, can pose serious threats to aqueous ecosystem and human health once released into the natural environment. We investigated the use of an anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor (AnOMBR) for removing cytostatic drugs from wastewater. The AnOMBR utilizes a dense forward osmosis (FO) membrane in an anaerobic digester with prolonged sludge retention time (60 days). The high rejection of the FO membrane combined with the extended organic retention time in the reactor ensured high removal rates (more than 95.6%) for all the eight cytostatic drugs investigated. With regard to their removal routes in the AnOMBR, the eight cytostatic drugs can be divided into several groups. Doxorubicin, Epirubicin and Tamoxifen were nearly completely removed through the adsorption of anaerobic sludge, while Methotrexate and Cyclophosphamide were mainly removed by biodegradation and FO rejection, respectively. In addition, Mitotane, Azathioprine and Flutamide were removed by both biodegradation and adsorption. This work provides critical insights into the removal mechanisms of high-retention AnOMBRs.
AB - Cytostatic drugs, mainly used as chemotherapy compounds, can pose serious threats to aqueous ecosystem and human health once released into the natural environment. We investigated the use of an anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor (AnOMBR) for removing cytostatic drugs from wastewater. The AnOMBR utilizes a dense forward osmosis (FO) membrane in an anaerobic digester with prolonged sludge retention time (60 days). The high rejection of the FO membrane combined with the extended organic retention time in the reactor ensured high removal rates (more than 95.6%) for all the eight cytostatic drugs investigated. With regard to their removal routes in the AnOMBR, the eight cytostatic drugs can be divided into several groups. Doxorubicin, Epirubicin and Tamoxifen were nearly completely removed through the adsorption of anaerobic sludge, while Methotrexate and Cyclophosphamide were mainly removed by biodegradation and FO rejection, respectively. In addition, Mitotane, Azathioprine and Flutamide were removed by both biodegradation and adsorption. This work provides critical insights into the removal mechanisms of high-retention AnOMBRs.
KW - Anaerobic bioreactor
KW - Cytostatic drugs
KW - Forward osmosis
KW - Osmotic membrane bioreactor
KW - Wastewater treatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046378744&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2018.01.125
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2018.01.125
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046378744
VL - 339
SP - 153
EP - 161
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
SN - 1385-8947
ER -
