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August 17-18, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
ANNUAL BIOTECHNOLOGY CONGRESS
Ann Biol Sci, 2017
ISSN: 2348-1927
P
harmaceuticals are ubiquitously detected in wastewater
and wastewater-impacted waterbodies because they
are resistant to bacterial degradation and thus pass
through conventional wastewater treatment systems. This
raises significant concern about their potential harmful
impact on aquatic organisms and even human. Fungal
laccase (EC 1.10.3.2) can degrade pharmaceuticals but its
application is limited because of the concern of washout
of laccase along with treated effluent from a continuous
flow bioreactor. We previously developed an enzymatic
bioreactor coupled with an ultrafiltration membrane, which
prevented enzyme washout, thereby allowing continuous
enzymatic degradation of pharmaceuticals. We noted
that some resistant compounds such as naproxen and
salicylic acid were retained by an enzyme gel layer formed
on the membrane surface, subsequently resulting in their
enhanced biodegradation. Based on this observation, we
postulate that integration of high retention membranes
with an enzymatic bioreactor can facilitate biodegradation
of recalcitrant compounds by retaining both enzyme and
the pharmaceuticals. This study explores a novel membrane
distillation-enzymatic bioreactor system for the removal of
four pharmaceuticals namely, diclofenac, naproxen, salicylic
acid and ibuprofen as well as two ingredients of personal
care products namely, oxybenzone and salicylic acid using
laccase purified from genetically modified
A. oryzae
. The
results confirmed almost complete retention (>95%) of the
compounds by the bioreactor. Of particular interest was the
fact that the complete retention improved the enzymatic
degradation of compounds that have been reported to be
poorly removed in other enzymatic bioreactors.
e:
faisal@uow.edu.auDevelopment of enzymatic membrane bioreactors for removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater
Faisal I Hai
Univeristy of Wollongong, Australia
Ann Biol Sci, 2017, 5:3
DOI: 10.21767/2348-1927-C1-003