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Comparison of the culture and harvesting of Chlorella vulgaris and Tetradesmus obliquus for the removal of pharmaceuticals from water

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Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess and compare the removal efficiency of paracetamol and salicylic acid from aqueous medium by a microalgae-based treatment, using either Chlorella vulgaris or Tetradesmus obliquus. Moreover, considering microalgae application in wastewater treatment, the influence of these pharmaceuticals in the algal nutrient removal capacity was evaluated. The removal of paracetamol by T. obliquus (>40 %) was larger than by C. vulgaris (>21 %) in batch culture, and this was also observed for salicylic acid (>93 % by T. obliquus and >25 % by C. vulgaris). Both strains removed nutrients (phosphate and nitrate) almost completely by the end of the batch culture, but T. obliquus showed the highest efficiency at the steady state conditions of the semicontinuous culture. In spite of this, under the flocculants here tested, the efficiency in the recovery of biomass was much higher for C. vulgaris. These results highlight the importance of strain selection in the application of microalgae for wastewater treatment and, particularly, for the removal of pharmaceuticals.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank University of León for funding given to MICROTRAT (project AE429). Carla Escapa acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for her PhD fellowship (FPU12/03073). Sergio Paniagua thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for his PhD fellowship (FPU14/05846). Marta Otero acknowledges University of León for the extension of the RYC-2010-05634 contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry and Physics, Institute of Environment, Natural Resources and Biodiversity (IMARENABIO), University of León, 24071, León, Spain

    C. Escapa, R. N. Coimbra, S. Paniagua, A. I. García & M. Otero

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  1. C. Escapa
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  2. R. N. Coimbra
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  3. S. Paniagua
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  4. A. I. García
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  5. M. Otero
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Correspondence to M. Otero.

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Escapa, C., Coimbra, R.N., Paniagua, S. et al. Comparison of the culture and harvesting of Chlorella vulgaris and Tetradesmus obliquus for the removal of pharmaceuticals from water. J Appl Phycol 29, 1179–1193 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-1010-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-1010-5

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