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Changes of biotoxicity in food waste fermentation wastewater treated by a membrane bioreactor system

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Abstract

The biotoxicity of industrial effluents has attracted much concern in the wastewater treatment process. This research performed the biological treatment of the wastewater generated from food waste fermentation by anaerobic/anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic-membrane bioreactor (A3-MBR) system aiming at the meet of discharge standards and elimination of ecological risks to aquatic environment. The results showed that the A3-MBR could effectively remove pollutants such as COD, TN, ammonia, and TP in the wastewater. The study of biotoxicity revealed that the acute toxicity was mainly contained in the polar and mid-polar fractions of the wastewater, and the remained acute toxicity was less than 0.6 TU, much lower than the secondary effluent of domestic wastewater treatment plant. The genotoxicity was found abundantly in the polar fractions and less in mid-polar fractions, and a relatively low genotoxicity (0.086 μg 4-NQO/L) was obtained in the final effluent of the treatment system. The fulvic acid-like compounds and humic acid-like compounds were the main cause of the acute toxicity, while the aromatic proteins and soluble microbial by-products mainly resulted in the genotoxicity in the wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51308319 and 51708292) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (buctrc201606).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China

    Xiaobiao Zhu

  2. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Mengqi Li, Dehua Ma & Lujun Chen

  3. Beijing General Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd, Beijing, 100082, China

    Mengqi Li

Authors
  1. Xiaobiao Zhu
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  2. Mengqi Li
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  3. Dehua Ma
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  4. Lujun Chen
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Correspondence to Lujun Chen.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Zhu, X., Li, M., Ma, D. et al. Changes of biotoxicity in food waste fermentation wastewater treated by a membrane bioreactor system. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 18728–18736 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1857-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1857-x

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