Page 162 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Fungal Treatment of Pharmaceuticals in Effluents 143

from pharmaceutical manufacturers. There was a heavy antibiotic load, in which
the reported concentrations greatly exceeded the standards (i.e., Ciprofloxacin
−1
−1
−1
28,000–31,000 µg L , Enrofloxacin 780–900 µg L , Norfloxacin 390–420 µg L ,
−1
Lomefloxacin 150–300 µg L , Enoxacin 150–300 µg L , and Ofloxacin 150–160
−1
−1
µg L in the effluent) (Larsson et al., 2007). The presence of a potential risk of high
concentrations of PhACs in manufacturing effluent has also been reported by other
authors (Fick et al., 2009; Sim et al., 2011; Phillips et al., 2010).
8.2.2 Types of pHarMaceuTicals THaT can be DegraDeD by fungi
Currently, more than 4000 PhACs are produced in large amounts annually. However,
the contribution of some of them to WWTP influent is not significant due to their
relatively small consumption rates, ease of removal, or efficient degradation. On
the other hand, in some cases, the successful employment of fungi has not been
reported. In this section, the main pharmaceuticals present in wastewaters that can
be degraded or eliminated by fungal species are assessed. The pharmaceuticals
were grouped based on their therapeutic function into the following classes: anti-
inflammatory drugs, analgesic drugs, psychotropic drugs, lipid regulators, antibiot-
ics, β-blockers, estrogens, and iodinated contrast media.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compounds are a group of nonprescription
pharmaceuticals with a large annual consumption. Unchanged anti-inflammatory
compounds or their transformed derivatives are almost ubiquitous in all WWTP
influents at concentrations of up to micrograms per liter. Many fungal species have
been investigated for the degradation of anti-inflammatory compounds, and the
results have shown the promising capability of fungi to degrade these compounds
or their derivatives. To date, the successful use of fungi for removal of the fol-
lowing anti-inflammatory drugs has been reported: IBP (Rodarte-Morales et al.,
2011), Diclofenac (Rodarte-Morales et al., 2011), NPX (Rodarte-Morales et al.,
2011), Fenoprofen (Tran et al., 2010), Indomethacin (Tran et al., 2010), Ketoprofen
(Marco-Urrea et al., 2010b), Mefenamic (Hata et al., 2010), Caffeine (Cruz-Morató
et al., 2014), and Propyphenazone (Tran et al., 2010).
Psychiatric drugs are frequently prescribed psychoactive compounds with the capa-
bility to affect the brain and nervous system. Psychiatric drugs are used for the treat-
ment of mental disorders, epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia, and other psychiatric diseases
(Rose, 2001). Often, these recalcitrant compounds are present in nanogram per liter
concentrations in the influent of WWTPs and are not removed or degraded by currently
employed wastewater treatment techniques (Miao et al., 2005). To date, the complete or
partial degradation of these persistent compounds employing different fungi has been
reported. Fungal species have been used to assess the degradation of different psycho-
tropic drugs, including Carbamazepine, Diazepam, Fluoxetine, and Citalopram.
Antibiotics are a class of antimicrobial drugs that are widely used for the treatment or
prevention of bacterial infections. Antibiotics are extensively used for the treatment of
human and livestock wastes as well as for agricultural activities (Gelband et al., 2015).
The occurrence of these compounds in aquatic cultures is a potential risk to the envi-
ronment, as they can alter the ecosystem by promoting antibiotic-resistant bacterial spe-
cies. Low concentrations of antibiotics have been reported in the effluent of WWTPs in