Physicochemical and Biological Effects on Activated Sludge Performance and Activity Recovery of Damaged Sludge by Exposure to CeO 2 Nanoparticles in Sequencing Batch Reactors

Qian Feng, Yaqing Sun, Yang Wu, Zhaoxia Xue, Jingyang Luo, Fang Fang, Chao Li and Jiashun Cao
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Qian Feng: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Yaqing Sun: College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Yang Wu: College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Zhaoxia Xue: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Jingyang Luo: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Fang Fang: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Chao Li: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Jiashun Cao: Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Recently, the growing release of CeO 2 nanoparticles (CeO 2 NPs) into sewage systems has attracted great concern. Several studies have extensively explored CeO 2 NPs’ potential adverse impacts on wastewater treatment plants; however, the impaired activated sludge recovery potentials have seldom been addressed to date. To explore the physicochemical and biological effects on the activated sludge performance and activity recovery of damaged sludge by exposure to CeO 2 NPs in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), four reactors and multiple indicators including water quality, key enzymes, microbial metabolites, the microbial community structure and toxicity were used. Results showed that 10-week exposure to higher CeO 2 NP concentration (1, 10 mg/L) resulted in a sharp decrease in nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies, which were consistent with the tendencies of key enzymes. Meanwhile, CeO 2 NPs at concentrations of 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/L decreased the secretion of tightly bound extracellular polymeric substances to 0.13%, 3.14%, and 28.60%, respectively, compared to the control. In addition, two-week recovery period assays revealed that the functional bacteria Proteobacteria , Nitrospirae and Planctomycetes recovered slightly at the phyla level, as analyzed through high-throughput sequencing, which was consistent with the small amount of improvement of the effluent performance of the system. This reflected the small possibility of the activity recovery of damaged sludge.

Keywords: cerium oxide nanoparticles; key enzymes; extracellular polymeric substances; microbial community; activity recovery of damaged sludge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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