Unintentional release of antibiotics associated with nutrients recovery from source-separated human urine by biochar.

Sayeda Ummeh Masrura, Tammy L Jones-Lepp, Puangrat Kajitvichyanukul, Yong Sik Ok, Daniel C W Tsang, Eakalak Khan

Journal: Chemosphere 2022;299():134426

PMID: 35351480

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

The use of biochar to recover nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater especially source-separated human urine is attractive from both economic and environmental standpoints. The widespread use of pharmaceuticals has raised concerns as they are not fully metabolized and ended up in human urine. The objective of this study is to examine adsorption of antibiotics (azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and tetracycline) and nutrients (ammonium and phosphate) in source-separated human urine by biochar and subsequent desorption. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted using biochar prepared from oak wood (OW) and paper mill sludge (PMS) to elucidate the effects of adsorption time, pH, and adsorbent dose. The desorption of adsorbed nutrients and antibiotics was also investigated. While the nutrient adsorption was more favorable by the PMS biochar, antibiotic adsorption was more prolific by the OW biochar. Hydrogen bonding and π-π interaction were identified as potential adsorption mechanisms. Experimental results agree with the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second order models (except the OW biochar for the kinetics). The findings suggest that biochar can adsorb both nutrients (43.30-266.67 mg g) and antibiotics (246.70-389.0 μg g) simultaneously. Lower solution pH (<5) was better for antibiotic adsorption, while higher solution pH (≥5) favored nutrient recovery. Also, desorption of the antibiotics (maximum of 92.6% for trimethoprim) was observed and might arise in the environment with the applications of biochar for nutrient recovery from human urine and subsequently for soil quality improvement. The findings serve as a foundation for future research on adsorption-based methods for separating nutrients and antibiotics in aqueous solutions, particularly urine.

Address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand. Electronic address: [email protected].; Korea Biochar Research Center & Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134426