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The potential of native microalgae consortia to remove pharmaceutical compounds present in treated wastewater

2025-09Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorLourenço Afonso, Valdemira
dc.contributor.authorRodrigues, Brígida
dc.contributor.authorBorges, Rodrigo
dc.contributor.authorJorge de Barros, Raúl José
dc.contributor.authorBebianno, Maria
dc.contributor.authorRaposo, Sara
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-23T11:56:01Z
dc.date.available2025-10-23T11:56:01Z
dc.date.issued2025-09
dc.description.abstractWastewater treatment plants play a key role in the release of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants into the aquatic environment, causing negative effects on the ecosystems of receiving water bodies. This work aimed to assess the removal efficiency of real loads of these contaminants by wastewater-native microalgae consortia acting on treated wastewater previously subjected to secondary treatment. Wastewater sampling and removal efficiency experiments were conducted over 1 year at three different sampling points. Nineteen pharmaceutical compounds of different drug classes (stimulants, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antibiotics, β-blockers, lipid regulators, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs/analgesics), as well as one herbicide/algicide (Diuron) were detected and quantified. Native blooming microalgae consortia were grown in treated wastewaters, and their potential to remove these compounds was quantified. The removal efficiency of these compounds by native microalgae consortia was variable, ranging from almost no removal for Clofibric acid or Ketoprofen to near complete removal for Fluoxetine, Venlafaxine, Atenolol or Diuron. These variations were influenced not only by the molecular nature of the compounds but also by the microbial composition variability of the microalgae consortia, especially among the prokaryotes present. Overall, microalgae consortia successfully removed between 40 % and 83 % of the total detected compounds, preventing a significant part of these from entering the aquatic environment, contributing to enhance treated wastewater quality. Significant biomass growth was observed, reaching dry-weight concentrations up to 2.6 g.L− 1 , indicative of good capacity of the grown consortia to deal with the toxicity effects of the pollutants. In addition to what is now reported, microalgae treatment also removes other pollutants, such as nutrients, metals or microplastic particles, constituting a versatile tertiary treatment for polishing treated wastewaters. These findings demonstrate the potential of native microalgae consortia-based systems to improve wastewater treatment processes, mitigating the environmental impact of pharmaceutical compounds while producing potentially useful biomass.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipUI/BD/150774/2020
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126858
dc.identifier.issn0301-4797
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/27849
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relationAquatic Research Infrastructure Network
dc.relationCentre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA)
dc.relationCentre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA)
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Environmental Management
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectTertiary wastewater treatment
dc.subjectNative microalgae consortia
dc.subjectPharmaceutical contaminants
dc.subjectMicropollutant removal
dc.titleThe potential of native microalgae consortia to remove pharmaceutical compounds present in treated wastewatereng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleAquatic Research Infrastructure Network
oaire.awardTitleCentre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA)
oaire.awardTitleCentre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIMA)
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0069%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F00350%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F00350%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.startPage126858
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Environmental Management
oaire.citation.volume392
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameLourenço Afonso
person.familyNameRodrigues
person.familyNameBorges
person.familyNameJorge de Barros
person.familyNameBebianno
person.familyNameRaposo
person.givenNameValdemira
person.givenNameBrígida
person.givenNameRodrigo
person.givenNameRaúl José
person.givenNameMaria
person.givenNameSara
person.identifierE-6295-2012
person.identifier.ciencia-id631C-A162-3F1E
person.identifier.ciencia-id6316-2939-C074
person.identifier.ciencia-idF115-15E6-2A2A
person.identifier.ciencia-id2B11-46AC-B94B
person.identifier.ciencia-idF010-54F2-9E30
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-0621-3720
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-9495-0813
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-4245-1881
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-6628-1437
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-1492-8566
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-5344-7349
person.identifier.ridL-3673-2013
person.identifier.scopus-author-id7004152715
person.identifier.scopus-author-id7801639810
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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