Fungal biodegradation of the N-nitrosodimethylamine precursors venlafaxine and O-desmethylvenlafaxine in water

Fungal treatment of metoprolol and its recalcitrant metabolite metoprolol acid in hospital wastewater: Biotransformation, sorption and ecotoxicological impact

“…T. versicolor and P. ostreatus attained lower biodegradation rates of about 48% and 32% percentages, respectively. In accordance to this, G. lucidum was also reported as the most efficient fungus for biodegradation of venlafaxine and O-desmethylvenlafaxine (spiked at 5 mg/L) with total removal values up to 70% and 100%, respectively (Llorca et al, 2018). The optimal removal of MTPA with these fungi needs to be highlighted since it was previously reported as a concerning metabolite, given its high persistence in previous batch activated sludge experiments, generated from the biodegradation of MTP spiked at 1 mg/L (Rubirola et al, 2014), and from atenolol spiked at 10 mg/L (Radjenović et al, 2008).…”

“…However, alternative treatments based on fungi have been reported to be effective in the removal of micropollutants, thanks to its unspecific ligninolytic systems and intracellular enzymatic complexes (Asgher et al, 2008). Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus (part of the Basidiomycota division and the Agaricomycetes class) have been successfully applied M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 4 for the elimination of certain pharmaceuticals (Cruz-Morató et al, 2014;Llorca et al, 2018;Marco-Urrea et al, 2009;Palli et al, 2017) with the overall load elimination of 83% in optimal conditions (Cruz-Morató et al, 2014). Among the extracellular enzymes responsible of pharmaceutical degradation lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and laccase are the most important ones (Asgher et al, 2008).…”

“…The low specificity of these enzymes make the selected fungi suitable for bioremediation processes. However, while some authors have successfully applied this kind of treatment for pharmaceutical removal (Cruz-Morató et al, 2014;Llorca et al, 2018;Marco-Urrea et al, 2009;Palli et al, 2017), less attention has been paid to the transformation products (TPs) generated, which may sometimes be more persistent or toxic than the parent compound (Escher and Fenner, 2011;Jaén-Gil et al, 2018). Considering that not only PhACs are present in HWW effluents but also their human metabolites, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has set guidelines on environmental risk assessment indicating that relevant metabolites are those excreted in ≥ 10% of the administered dose (Wharf and Kingdom, 2010).…”

Hollow carbon spheres for diclofenac and venlafaxine adsorption

“…In order to confirm this hypothesis, different nanostructured CSs were synthetized in the present study, by adapting the procedure previously reported by Fuertes et al [13]. These CSs were employed in adsorption studies, by selecting two model OMPs: the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug DCF and the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor VFX, due to their large consumption worldwide and their high detection frequency in aquatic environments [14][15][16]. In addition, DCF was one of the CECs of a previous watch list [17] and VFX has recently been included in the watch list of CECs defined by Decision 2020/1161/EU [18].…”

Hazardous wastes treatment technologies

“…Serna‐Galvis, Botero‐Coy, et al (2019) used a combined biological and sonochemical process to treat 15 emerging pharmaceuticals of concern in real hospital wastewater, and found that the biological process mainly removed biodegradable substances, but its reactivity with pharmaceuticals was limited. Llorca et al (2019) reported that a white rot fungus Trametes versicolor could remove up to 100% of O‐desmethylvenlafaxine (ODMVFX) and 70% of Venlafaxine (VFX) (antidepressant drugs) and associated NDMA formation potential. Another white rot fungus Ganoderma lucidum could also remove 100% of ODMVFX and 70% of VFX, but the NDMA formation potential associated with VFX remained constant, due to the production of a transformation byproduct that formed more NDMA.…”