Effect of emerging pollutant fluoxetine on the excess sludge anaerobic digestion

Fluoxetine (FLX), an emerging pollutant, has been detected in the sewage and excess sludge (ES) at substantial levels. So far, however, the impacts of FLX on the ES anaerobic digestion and the related mechanisms have never been investigated. In this work, the effects of FLX on the ES anaerobic digestion were explored by the batch test under moderate temperature condition. The results indicated the effect of FLX on ES digestion was dose-dependent. When FLX was at a low dose (0.1 mg/kg), FLX had no significant impact on the methane generation from the ES digestion. However,when FLX was 2.0 mg/kg, the cumulative methane production was only 91.2 +/- 4.3 mL/g volatile suspended solids (VSS), which was about 59.9 +/- 3.4% of the blank (without FLX). Mechanisms revealed that the presence of FLX has inhibited hydrolysis, acidification and methanogenesis. Enzyme activity analysis showed that FLX inhibited the activities of key enzymes in the process of hydrolysis, acidification and methanogenesis. The results of this work are of great significance to explain the role of FLX in the process of ES fermentation, and provide some reference for the subsequent utilization of ES. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study revealed that the impact of fluoxetine (FLX) on excess sludge (ES) anaerobic digestion is dose-dependent, with higher concentrations of FLX inhibiting methane production from ES digestion. Mechanistically, the presence of FLX was found to inhibit key enzyme activity in the hydrolysis, acidification, and methanogenesis processes.