Remediation, nanotechnological device and ecotoxicity testing for waste management

GAGNETEN, A.M.; REGALDO, L.; RENO, U.; ROMERO, N.; POLLA, W.; KERGARAVAT, S.V.; CASTRO, G.R.

Jaipur

Conferencia; International Conference on Biotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture, Environment and Health; 2021

Water pollution has a worldwide concern. Each year, about 80% of municipal wastewater, industry and agricultural effluents are discharged untreated into water bodies. The ?biologization? of industrial processes using microalgae to decontaminate wastewaters has emerged together with cleaner remediation technologies. According to UNEP, Agriculture exploits 70% of water globally and plays a key role in water contamination posing significant threats to living organisms. The optimization of the biological treatment of urban solid waste (USW) with leachates (daily income approximately 100 m3/day in Santa Fe, Argentina, was analyzed. Properties of the USW were assessed by physicochemical characterization, BOD5/COD ratio, concentration of pesticides and metals and taxonomic quantification of microalgae, rotifers, and ciliates. The USW leachates were characterized as a middle-aged (5−10 years) and as Class III toxicity. Besides, advances Oxidation Processes (AOP) was used to decontaminate water polluted with glyphosate. Also, a nanotechnological device to treat urban wastewater (UW) was developed with silver nanoparticles on cellulose filter. The coliforms and E. coli content was reduced by about 99 %, and the postfiltered effluent allowed growth of Lactuca sativa (lettuce). The filtered UW could be used as liquid fertilizer, in line with the trend of zero-liquid discharge (ZLD), zero waste, and circular economy solutions. In all wastewater evaluations with remediation purposes, ecotoxicological testing was performed by acute and chronic tests using microalgae and microcrustaceans. Thus, emerging technologies to environmental remediation aimed to maintain the quality of aquatic ecosystems, represents one of the most formidable challenges facing global society in the twenty-first century.