Besides, Fenton's reagent helped to not only remove total organic carbon (TOC), heavy metals (As, Cu and Pb) and total phosphorus (TP), but also inactivate bacteria and reduce wastewater toxicity. This work demonstrates that the integrated process combining SBR with Fenton's reagent could provide comprehensive treatment to swine wastewater. ª 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
IntroductionThe concern about the occurrence of antibiotics in the environment has been growing due to the potential evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotics are widely used in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) around the world to treat the diseases and improve the growth rate of animals. In China, over 8000 tons of antibiotics are currently used as feed additives each year (Henan Animal Husbandry Bureau, 2009). Antibiotics are often added in the feed and water for animal feeding. However, the majority of antibiotics are excreted in feces and urine without adsorption and metabolism by animals (Sarmah et al., 2006). As a result, the potential environmental risks brought about by antibiotics are increasing along with the rapid advance of livestock industry. In fact, antibiotics have been frequently detected in the slurry and wastewater of CAFOs (Haller et al., 2002;Malintan and Mohd, 2006). Multiple classes of antibiotics with relatively high concentrations, commonly at >100 mg/L levels, were detected in swine waste storage lagoons in the United States (Campagnolo et al., 2002). In our previous work, eight antibiotics including four sulfonamides, three tetracyclines and one * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 10 62849632; fax: þ86 10 62923541. E-mail address: qiangz@rcees.ac.cn (Z. Qiang).A v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . w a t e r r e s e a r c h 4 3 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 4 3 9 2 -4 4 0 2