Emerging Biodegradation of the Previously Persistent Artificial Sweetener Acesulfame in Biological Wastewater Treatment

Kahl, Stefanie; Kleinsteuber, Sabine; Nivala, Jaime; Afferden, Manfred van; Reemtsma, Thorsten

doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b05619

Cited by 111 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Although ACE‐K usage is expected to remain the same and perhaps even increase in certain regions (i.e., China), the emerging profile of its biodegradation and efficient elimination from WWTPs (especially during warm months) suggests that we might even anticipate measurable decreases in the concentration of ACE‐K in surface waters. Indeed, this is the case in some German rivers where reductions of ACE‐K concentrations of between 70% and 80% have been observed for the period of 2011 to 2016 (Kahl et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…A subsample of 3 WWTPs revealed that concentrations of sulfamic acid in the influent and effluent were similar and therefore the degradation of ACE‐K added insignificantly to the normal loading of sulfamic acid discharged into surface waters (typical for municipal WWTPs receiving high loads of sulfamic acid cleaning products). Kahl et al (2018) confirmed the mineralization of ACE‐K to stoichiometric amounts of sulfamic acid in their study of ACE‐K removal and biodegradation in an aerated horizontal flow treatment wetland and an adjacent municipal WWTP using activated sludge. Finally, in follow‐up studies conducted by Kleinsteuber et al (2019), ACE‐K has been shown to be mineralized in a catabolic process and used as the sole C source by bacterial pure strains isolated from WWTP activated sludge identified as Bosea sp.…”

Section: Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Measured influent ACE‐K concentrations in their study (10–70 μg/L) were not significantly different from influent concentrations reported previously in other German and Swiss surface waters (Buerge et al 2009, 12–434 μg/L; Scheurer et al 2011, 8.2–37 μg/L; and Castronovo et al 2017, 20–81 μg/L; see also Supplemental Data Table S3). During this same time period, Kahl et al (2018) further suggested that wastewater treatment processes and techniques had not changed significantly in Germany. These facts suggest that the observed enhanced rates of ACE‐K removal and biodegradation in Germany had a positive influence (reduction) on the reported surface‐water concentrations of ACE‐K over the 4‐y period (2013–2016) of study.…”

Section: Environmental Fate and Exposure Assessment Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA 2012) modeled estimates (EPI Suite v4.11) clearly show that ACE‐K will not be appreciably removed by WWTPs, and this has been confirmed by a number of early researchers (Buerge et al 2009; Scheurer et al 2009; Lange et al 2012). However, more recently there is an interesting and emerging trend of demonstrating successful biodegradation of ACE‐K by WWTPs (Castronovo et al 2017; Kahl et al 2018), a finding that has great significance for its potential future aquatic risk. Regarding environmental effects data, ACE‐K is now receiving a considerable amount of attention in the peer‐reviewed literature with respect to its ecotoxicological characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of the Environmental Fate and Effects of Acesulfame‐Potassium

Belton¹,

Schaefer

Guiney³

2020

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The use of low and no calorie sweeteners (LNCSs) has increased substantially the past several decades. Their high solubility in water, low absorption to soils, and reliable analytical methods facilitate their detection in wastewater and surface waters. Low and no calorie sweeteners are widely used in food and beverage products around the world, have been approved as food additives, and are considered safe for human consumption by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and other regulatory authorities. Concerns have been raised, however, regarding their growing presence and potential aquatic toxicity. Recent studies have provided new empirical environmental monitoring, environmental fate, and ecotoxicity on acesulfame potassium (ACE‐K). Acesulfame potassium is an important high‐production LNCS, widely detected in the environment and generally reported to be environmentally persistent. Acesulfame‐potassium was selected for this environmental fate and effects review to determine its comparative risk to aquatic organisms. The biodegradation of ACE‐K is predicted to be low, based on available quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) models, and this has been confirmed by several investigations, mostly published prior to 2014. More recently, there appears to be an interesting paradigm shift with several reports of the enhanced ability of wastewater treatment plants to biodegrade ACE‐K. Some studies report that ACE‐K can be photodegraded into potentially toxic breakdown products, whereas other data indicate that this may not be the case. A robust set of acute and chronic ecotoxicity studies in fish, invertebrates, and freshwater plants provided critical data on ACE‐K's aquatic toxicity. Acesulfame‐potassium concentrations in wastewater and surface water are generally in the lower parts per billion (ppb) range, whereas concentrations in sludge and groundwater are much lower (parts per trillion [ppt]). This preliminary environmental risk assessment establishes that ACE‐K has high margins of safety (MOSs) and presents a negligible risk to the aquatic environment based on a collation of extensive ACE‐K environmental monitoring, conservative predicted environmental concentration (PEC) and predicted no‐effect concentration (PNEC) estimates, and prudent probabilistic exposure modeling. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:421–437. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Environmental Fate and Exposure Assessment Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Review of the Environmental Fate and Effects of Acesulfame‐Potassium

Belton¹,

Schaefer

Guiney³

2020

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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“…Evolutionary novelty can also emerge in populations exposed to synthetic environments created by humans, and, in doing so, perform essential evosystem services (Rudman et al, 2017). For example, the artificial sweetener acesulfame (ACE) is a persistent compound in aquatic environments because it is resistant to microbial-mediated biodegradation both in natural and wastewater treatment environments (Kahl et al, 2018). Recent work suggests that the catabolism of this compound has evolved repeatedly in multiple wastewater treatment plants in Germany (Kahl et al, 2018), possibly associated with a microbial consortium of proteobacterial species (Fig.…”

Section: The Structure Of Evolutionary Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On biological evolution and environmental solutions

Matthews

Jokela

Narwani

et al. 2020

Science of The Total Environment

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Drawing insights from multiple disciplines is essential for finding integrative solutions that are required to tackle complex environmental problems. Human activities are causing unprecedented influence on global ecosystems, culminating in the loss of species and fundamental changes in the selective environments of organisms across the tree of life. Our collective understanding about biological evolution can help identify and mitigate many of the environmental problems in the Anthropocene. To this end, we propose a stronger integration of environmental sciences with evolutionary biology.

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Scientific concepts and methods for moving persistence assessments into the 21st century

Davenport

Curtis-Jackson

Dalkmann

et al. 2022

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The evaluation of a chemical substance's persistence is key to understanding its environmental fate, exposure concentration, and, ultimately, environmental risk. Traditional biodegradation test methods were developed many years ago for soluble, nonvolatile, single-constituent test substances, which do not represent the wide range of manufactured chemical substances. In addition, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) screening and simulation test methods do not fully reflect the environmental conditions into which substances are released and, therefore, estimates of chemical degradation half-lives can be very uncertain and may misrepresent real environmental processes. In this paper, we address the challenges and limitations facing current test methods and the scientific advances that are helping to both understand and provide solutions to them. Some of these advancements include the following: (1) robust methods that provide a deeper understanding of microbial composition, diversity, and abundance to ensure consistency and/or interpret variability between tests; (2) benchmarking tools and reference substances that aid in persistence evaluations through comparison against substances with well-quantified degradation profiles; (3) analytical methods that allow quantification for parent and metabolites at environmentally relevant concentrations, and inform on test substance bioavailability, biochemical pathways, rates of primary versus overall degradation, and rates of metabolite formation and decay; (4) modeling tools that predict the likelihood of microbial biotransformation, as well as biochemical pathways; and (5) modeling approaches that allow for derivation of more generally applicable biotransformation rate constants, by accounting for physical and/or chemical processes and test system design when evaluating test data. We also identify that, while such advancements could improve the certainty and accuracy of persistence assessments, the mechanisms and processes by which they are translated into regulatory practice and development of new OECD test guidelines need improving and accelerating. Where uncertainty remains, holistic weight of evidence approaches may be required to accurately assess the persistence of chemicals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;1-34.

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Emerging Biodegradation of the Previously Persistent Artificial Sweetener Acesulfame in Biological Wastewater Treatment

Cited by 111 publications

References 48 publications

A Review of the Environmental Fate and Effects of Acesulfame‐Potassium

A Review of the Environmental Fate and Effects of Acesulfame‐Potassium

On biological evolution and environmental solutions

Scientific concepts and methods for moving persistence assessments into the 21st century

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