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Algal cultivation in urban wastewater: an efficient way to reduce pharmaceutical pollutants
Open accessAbstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether pharmaceutical pollutants in urban wastewater can be reduced during algal cultivation. A mixed population of wild freshwater green algal species was grown on urban wastewater influent in a 650 L photobioreactor under natural light and with the addition of flue gases. Removal efficiencies were very high (>90 %), moderate (50-90 %), low (10-50 %), and very low or non-quantifiable (<10 %) for 9, 14, 11, and 18 pharmaceuticals, respectively, over a 7-day period. High reduction was found in the following pharmaceuticals: the beta-blockers atenolol, bispropol, and metoprolol; the antibiotic clarithromycine; the antidepressant bupropion; the muscle relaxant atracurium; hypertension drugs diltiazem and terbutaline used to relive the symptoms of asthma. Regression analysis did not detect any relationship between the reduction in pharmaceutical contents and light intensity reaching the water surface of the algal culture. However, the reduction was positively correlated with light intensity inside the culture and stronger when data collected during the night were excluded. Algae cultivation can remove partially or totally pharmaceutical pollutants from urban wastewater, and this opens up new possibilities for treating urban wastewater.
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“In addition, several studies have explored the integration of algal cultivation with wastewater [130,131] and CO 2 -rich waste gases [132,133] to enhance algal biomass accumulation and improve carbon capture efficiency while mitigating environmental impacts.”
From A Review of Algae-Based Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (Algae-Based CCUS) (2024) · cites this paper as [130]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Gentili, F. G., & Fick, J.
- Affiliations
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Gentili, Francesco G.
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Phycology
- Published
- 2016-09-03
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 255-262
- ISSN
- 0921-8971 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-5176
- PMC
- PMC5346144
- OpenAlex
- W2510704615
- Cited by
- 168
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6
- FWCI
- 5.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Phycology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Swedish Energy Agency
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment
- Keywords
- pharmaceutical pollutants, municipal wastewater, algae cultivation, wastewater treatment, photobioreactors, freshwater green algae, light intensity, flue gas, beta-blockers, clarithromycin, bupropion, atracurium, diltiazem, terbutaline, atenolol, metoprolol, pollutant removal
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