Microbial electro-Fenton: A promising system for antibiotics resistance genes degradation and energy generation

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2020-01, Vol.699, p.134160, Article 134160
• Main Authors: Li, Shengnan, Liu, Yanwanjing, Ge, Runlei, Yang, Song, Zhai, Yanxia, Hua, Tao, Ondon, Brim Stevy, Zhou, Qixing, Li, Fengxiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibiotic resistance genes; Biodegradation, Environmental; Bioelectric Energy Sources; Drug Resistance, Microbial - genetics; Electricity generation; Erythromycin; Genes, Bacterial; Microbial electro-Fenton; Microbial fuel cell
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134160

[Display omitted] •This study demonstrated the use of bio-electro-Fenton system treating antibiotic and ARGs wastewater.•ERY degradation rate reached 88.73% in bio-electro-Fenton systems.•The degradation rate of ermG, ermC and ermB could nearly reach over 63.5%, 77.6% and 100%.•A high-power density (0.193 W m−2) was achieved under 5 μg L−1 ERY. The widespread use of antibiotics has accelerated the development of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which are now recognized as emerging environmental contaminants that pose a high risk to public health. In this study, simultaneous antibiotic and ARGs removal and bioelectricity generation was explored in a microbial electro-Fenton system using erythromycin (ERY) as a model antibiotic compound. The results showed that ERY could be degraded, with an average removal efficiency of 88.73% in 48 h, and the average removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand in the microbial electro-Fenton with 50 μg L−1 ERY reached 86.84% in 48 h, which was lower than that in the control group (89.11%). The produced ARGs were analyzed and degraded in a cathode chamber. The quantity of ermB was significantly reduced, with log removal reaching a value of 1.96. More importantly, all erm genes (ermB, ermC, ermG) showed a tendency to be degraded. Furthermore, the maximum power density obtained with respect to the electrode area was 0.193 W m−2 when ERY was added, corresponding to a current density of 0.583 A m−2 (external resistor = 1000 Ω), which was 14% larger than that of the control group (0.169 W m−2). The results of this study demonstrate the potential of microbial electro-Fenton for ERY and ARGs removal.