The increase in worldwide water contamination with numerous pharmaceutical contaminants (PCs) has become an emerging environmental concern due to their considerable ecotoxicities and associated health issues. Microalgae-mediated bioremediation of PCs has recently gained scientific attention, as microalgal bioremediation is a solar-power driven, ecologically comprehensive, and sustainable reclamation strategy. In this review, we comprehensively describe the current research on the possible roles and applications of microalgae for removing PCs from aqueous media. We summarize several novel approaches including constructing microbial consortia, acclimation, and cometabolism for enhanced removal of PCs by microalgae, which would improve practical feasibility of these technologies. Some novel concepts for degrading PCs using integrated processes and genetic modifications to realize algal-based bioremediation technologies are also recommended.
\nTrends<\/p>\n
Water contamination with numerous pharmaceutical contaminants (PCs) has been one of the most important emerging environmental problems facing humanity due to their ecotoxicities and health issues.<\/p>\n
Culturing microalgae in wastewater can create a \u2018zero-waste concept\u2019 and stimulate an effective and sustainable practice for the microalgae biofuel industry.<\/p>\n
Constructing microbial consortia, acclimating microorganisms, and cometabolic approaches can improve the engineering feasibility of microalgae-based biotechnologies.<\/p>\n
Some innovative concepts, such as integrated processes (algae-based technologies with advanced oxidation processes, constructed wetlands, and microbial fuel cells) and genetic modifications, can help to realize algae-based bioremediation technologies.
\nPharmaceutical Contaminants: An Emerging Concern<\/p>\n
The security and scarcity of clean water for the safe livelihood of human beings have drawn concern worldwide due to the contamination of water resources by various micropollutants, including pharmaceutical contaminants (PCs, see Glossary) [1, 2]. These synthetic chemicals can be transported through the atmosphere and water and, in many cases, find their way into sediments and soils (Box 1). Moreover, multidrug-resistant efflux pumps are present in all organisms and can exist in large numbers within single microorganisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Low concentrations of PCs can be beneficial for bacteria by triggering specific transcriptional changes that are independent of the bacterial stress response pathways; this is especially pertinent for antibiotics, to which bacteria can develop resistance [3]. PCs can accumulate in different trophic level organisms including human beings through biomagnification in food chains due to their hydrophobic and persistent nature. Conventional activated-sludge processes in current wastewater treatment plants are not designed for the efficient removal of PCs [4]. Although several advanced treatment technologies are available for removing PCs (Box 2), the low removal efficiencies and\/or limitations of these technologies motivated researchers to investigate better treatment strategies for the removal of these trace PCs. Microalgae-mediated bioremediation of PCs is of growing scientific interest. Its advantages include being driven by solar energy, the relatively small amounts of operational inputs, eco-friendliness, its role in the fixation and turnover of carbon, and its simultaneous production of high-value products such as nutraceuticals and cosmetics, low-value food products for aquaculture, and microalgal biomass for the production of biofuel and animal feed [5, 6, 7]. Mixotrophic microalgae can switch their metabolism between autotrophic and heterotrophic depending on the availability of carbon sources and nutrients in the surrounding environment, which provides them with great flexibility to survive and thrive in extreme environments. This capability of microalgae can overcome some of the major limitations associated with bacteria and fungi that require carbon and other nutrients in stoichiometric balance for growth and degradation of pollutants. The adaptability of mixotrophic microalgae makes them promising candidates for removal of contaminants in wastewater [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The capacity of mixotrophic microalgae to remove and uptake PCs from wastewater and\/or synthetic wastewater has been demonstrated (Table 1) using different microalgae species (Box 3). Culturing microalgae in wastewater substantially reduces the need for chemical fertilizers\/nutrients and their related burden on the life cycle. A \u2018zero-waste\u2019 concept can be implemented through the utilization of wastewater as nutrient source for the cultivation of mixotrophic microalgae (wastewater treatment through microalgal remediation) followed by the subsequent utilization of produced biomass as a feasible feedstock for sustainable biofuel production to stimulate a more sustainable practice for the microalgae biomass based biofuel industry. In this review, we comprehensively describe the current status of research activities and perspectives on the mechanistic aspects and applications of microalgae for removing PCs from wastewater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The increase in worldwide water contamination with numerous pharmaceutical contaminants (PCs) has become an emerging environmental concern due to their considerable ecotoxicities and associated health issues. Microalgae-mediated bioremediation of PCs has recently gained scientific attention, as microalgal bioremediation is a solar-power driven, ecologically comprehensive, and sustainable reclamation strategy. In this review, we comprehensively describe the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[10477,13535],"supplier":[11310],"class_list":["post-46482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-microalgae","tag-wastewater","supplier-cell-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46482"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=46482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}