Untreated wastewater contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and fluorinated compounds (PFAS) may end up in the receiving waters to cause ecological risks. Algae are a food source to many other organisms in aquatic ecosystems, and they may play an important role in food web transfer of emerging contaminants. In addition, algae are low-cost and contain high lipid contents, therefore, they can be used for treating emerging contaminants in surface and wastewater. This presentation summaries recent research works on the uptake and removal of emerging contaminants by freshwater green algae (e.g., <i>Nannochloris sp.</i> and <i>Chlorella. sp.</i>) in lake water and municipal wastewater. The studies evaluated the underlying processes including biosorption, photolysis, and biodegradation. Overall, the uptake and removal rates depend on the chemistry of the contaminants, the algal species, and the culture medium. Hydrophobic compounds tend to be more associated with the algal biomass, such as hormones, pharmaceuticals; however, chain-compounds such as PFAS are more resistant to algae-uptake.

Uptake and removal of emerging contaminants by freshwater algae in surface water and wastewater

ACS Spring 2022

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