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Mineral-Based Advanced Oxidation Processes for Enhancing the Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Domestic Wastewater

Lookup NU author(s): Panagiota Adamou, Jim Entwistle, Emeritus Professor David Graham, Dr Anke Neumann

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 2025 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) release antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) into the environment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) can remove ARB and ARGs, but they often require impractically high chemical or energy use. Here, we explore a low-energy AOP that uses Fe-bearing clay mineral (NAu-1) either combined with H2O2 (H2O2/NAu-1) or as prereduced structural Fe (rNAu-1) to degrade selected ARGs (i.e., tetM, tetQ, and blaOXA-10), int1 (a mobile genetic element), and the 16S rRNA gene in postsecondary WWTP effluents. Addition of H2O2/NAu-1 significantly increased tetM and int1 removals relative to UV irradiation and H2O2/UV (p ≤ 0.02). Removals increased with greater H2O2 doses and contact times, reaching maximum values of 1.2 and 2.3 log units at H2O2 doses of 0.26 and 10 mM and contact times of 4 and 8 h, respectively. Bacterial regrowth after 24 h of contact was probably due to H2O2 depletion. However, the addition of rNAu-1 achieved the highest removals, up to 2.9 log units after 0.5 h, and suppressed bacterial regrowth over 24 h. Similar removals were observed with rNAu-1 under oxic and anoxic conditions. Results show that mineral-based AOPs offer the potential for elevated ARG removal and lower chemical and energy demands in tertiary wastewater treatment.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Adamou P, Entwistle J, Graham DW, Neumann A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: ACS ES&T Water

Year: 2025

Volume: 5

Issue: 5

Pages: 2310-2321

Print publication date: 09/05/2025

Online publication date: 29/04/2025

Acceptance date: 27/03/2025

Date deposited: 13/05/2025

ISSN (electronic): 2690-0637

Publisher: American Chemical Society

URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c01213

DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.4c01213

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