A wide variety of chemicals are applied in agricultural systems for animal and crop growth including antibiotics, antifungals, and insect repellents. Many chemicals within these classes pose serious human and environmental health risks, and technologies to reduce their emission into the environment are needed. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process that converts organic material (e.g. biosolids, manure) to valuable biogas, and is considered a key component to enhancing agricultural sustainability. AD may also be valuable as a technology for degrading agricultural chemicals prior to environmental release. While the effects of contaminants, in particular antibiotics, on biogas production have been investigated previously, little is known about the transformation of xenobiotics during AD. We used liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry to measure the degradation of agricultural chemicals and identify transformation products formed in lab-scale AD batch reactors. Reactors were prepared following the Biochemical Methane Potential method and spiked with compounds individually and in mixtures. Digestion media samples were extracted using a modified QuEChERS method and analyzed using positive electron spray ionization in full MS mode with data dependent MS2 acquisition. Degradation kinetics were measured, and several transformation products were identified indicating the relevance of both biotic and abiotic transformation processes. The application of statistical tools including principal component and differential analyses demonstrated significant changes in the chemical composition of digested material between samples with and without contaminants added. Additionally, biogas production, pH, and volatile fatty acid profiles were observed to assess the impact of the contaminants on AD microcosm health.

Fate of agrochemicals during anaerobic digestion: Quantifying degradation and identifying transformation products using orbitrap mass spectrometry

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.