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The Toxicological Effects and Removal Characterization of Carbamazepine Using Chlorella vulgaris in Aqueous Media

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Abstract

Carbamazepine, as one of the pharmaceutical and personal care products, is highly persistent in aquatic environments. This study investigated the effects of carbamazepine on the physiology and photosynthetic characteristics of Chlorella vulgaris, and the removal of carbamazepine by C. vulgaris was evaluated. The results showed that the growth and the photosynthesis activity of C. vulgaris decreased with the increase in carbamazepine concentration, while superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were markedly promoted. It was also revealed that C. vulgaris could result in efficient removal of carbamazepine with a concentration of 40 mg/L. The removal efficiency reached 79.16 ± 3.98% after 8-day exposure. Pathway analysis revealed that 77.05 ± 3.91% of carbamazepine was removed by biodegradation, and bioaccumulation and biosorption contributed only 1.47 ± 0.14% and 0.37 ± 0.06%, respectively. The research implied that biodegradation by C. vulgaris might be an efficient method to treat carbamazepine-contaminated water.

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Data Availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Funding

This work was supported by Fujian Higher School Industry-University Research Joint Innovation Project (2021Y4005) and Scientific Climbing Plan of Xiamen University of Technology (XPDKT20016, XPDKT19026).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fujian Engineering and Research Center of Rural Sewage Treatment and Water Safety, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, 361024, China

    Yicheng Wu, Zhuoyi Zhou, Jian Yu, Haiyan Fu & Aili Yang

  2. Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Treatment Functional Materials, Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China

    Yicheng Wu & Lihui Ou

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  1. Yicheng Wu
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  2. Zhuoyi Zhou
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  3. Lihui Ou
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  4. Jian Yu
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Contributions

Yicheng Wu designed and performed the experiments and wrote the original draft. Yujian, Zhouyi Zhou, Lihui Ou, and Haiyan Fu helped analyze all the data. Aili Yang was responsible for supervision and validation. All authors discussed and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aili Yang.

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Wu, Y., Zhou, Z., Ou, L. et al. The Toxicological Effects and Removal Characterization of Carbamazepine Using Chlorella vulgaris in Aqueous Media. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 368 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05828-x

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