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Individual and combined inhibition of phenol and thiocyanate on microbial activity of partial nitritation

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Abstract

This study evaluated the individual and interactive effect of phenol and thiocyanate (SCN−) on partial nitritation (PN) activity using batch test and response surface methodology. The IC50 of phenol and SCN− on PN sludge were 5.6 and 351 mg L−1, respectively. The PN sludge was insensitive to phenol and SCN− at levels lower than 1.77 and 43.3 mg L−1, respectively. A regression model equation was developed and validated to predict the relative specific respiration rate (RSRR) of PN sludge exposed to different phenol and SCN− concentrations. In the range of independent variables, the most severe inhibition was observed with a valley value (17%) for RSRR, when the phenol and SCN− concentrations were 4.08 and 198 mg L−1, respectively. An isobole plot was used to judge the combined toxicity of phenol and SCN−, and the joint inhibitory effect was variable depending on the composition and concentration of the toxic components. Furthermore, the toxic compounds showed independent effects, which is the most common type of combined toxicity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 51578204 and no. 51278162) and the Science and Technology Development Program of Hangzhou (no. 20150533B01) for their partial support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, China

    Qiong Guo, Zhi-Jian Shi, Chen-Chen Yang, Mei Huang, Jia-Li Xu, Yi-Qun Xu, Wei-Min Ni & Ren-Cun Jin

  2. Key Laboratory of Hangzhou City for Ecosystem Protection and Restoration, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, China

    Qiong Guo, Zhi-Jian Shi, Chen-Chen Yang, Mei Huang, Jia-Li Xu, Yi-Qun Xu, Wei-Min Ni & Ren-Cun Jin

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  1. Qiong Guo
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  2. Zhi-Jian Shi
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  3. Chen-Chen Yang
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  4. Mei Huang
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  5. Jia-Li Xu
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  6. Yi-Qun Xu
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  7. Wei-Min Ni
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  8. Ren-Cun Jin
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Correspondence to Wei-Min Ni or Ren-Cun Jin.

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Responsible editor: Diane Purchase

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Guo, Q., Shi, ZJ., Yang, CC. et al. Individual and combined inhibition of phenol and thiocyanate on microbial activity of partial nitritation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 14207–14217 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9024-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9024-3

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