Understanding the interaction between triclocarban and denitrifiers

The widespread use of triclocarban (FCC) has led to its substantial release into aquatic environment. As an important microbial community in wastewater treatment, denitrifying cultures likely remove TCC and also may be affected by TCC which has not been revealed. This work therefore aims to add knowledge to these questions. Experimental results showed that 71.2 %-79.4 % of TCC was removed by denitrifying sludge in stable operation when TCC concentration was 1 - 20 mg/L. Mass balance analyses revealed that TCC was dominantly removed by adsorption rather than biodegradation, and non-homogeneous multilayer adsorption was responsible for this removal, with hydroxyl groups, amides and polysaccharides acting as the possible adsorption sites. Although the physicochemical properties of denitrifying cultures were unaffected after short-term exposure, long-term exposure to TCC deteriorated the settleability, dewaterability, flocculability and hydrophobicity of denitrifying biomass. It was observed that 20 mg/L TCC decreased denitrification efficiency by 70 % in long-term operation. Mechanism studies revealed that long-term exposure to TCC resulted in the increase of extracellular polymeric substances especially proteins, and the decrease of denitrifiers' activities. High-throughput sequencing revealed that TCC decreased the diversity of microbial community and the abundances of denitrifier genera such as Hyphomicrobium, Paracoccus, Saprospiraceae and unclassified-f-Rhodocyclaceae.

Automated summary

The study showed that denitrifying sludge can effectively remove TCC through adsorption in stable operation. However, long-term exposure to TCC deteriorates the performance of denitrifying biomass and decreases denitrification efficiency.