Evaluation of Salvinia minima for Phytoremediation of Veterinary Drugs in a Dairy Farm Wastewater

LAMI, MARIA ; GROS, MERITXELL; VALDEZ, EUGENIA; RODRIGUEZ MOZAZ, SARA; AMÉ, VALERIA; ROSA, MARIANA; PRADO, CAROLINA

Montevideo

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 15th Biennial Meeting; 2023

SETAC

Antibiotics and their metabolites are ubiquitous emerging pollutants present in water bodies. Due to thefrequent use of these compounds in dairy farms, either for therapeutic or growth-promoting purposes, thereis concern about the promotion of antibiotic resistant bacteria and their release into the environment. Asignificant amount of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) including antibiotics administered toanimals are not fully metabolized and are eliminated in urine, and/or faeces. Therefore, treatment strategiesare required for the removal of these emerging contaminants from animal wastewater. In this sense,phytoremediation is a sustainable, low-cost alternative with high applicability for the rehabilitation ofenvironments affected by natural and anthropogenic contamination. In this context, phytoremediation trialsusing Salvinia minima were carried out for the treatment of dairy farm wastewater (DFWW) in order toremove veterinary PhACs and thus achieve a higher quality effluent for its subsequent use within the farmor to reduce contaminants loads for its final disposal into the environment. To do this, firstly, the presence ofPhACs in wastewater from dairy farm of Tucumán, in North of Argentina was evaluated. In the screening ofveterinary drugs from crude DFWW (before phytotreatment) ciprofloxacin, tilmicosin, flunixin, diclofenac,furosemide, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and bezafibrate were identified. Here, the concentrations were verylow, except that acetaminophen was 4217 ng/L. The removal efficiency of Salvinia minima was studied bycultivation in DFWW spiked with a mixture of penicillin G, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin,clarithromycin, oxytetracycline, sulfamethazine, sulfadiazine, sulfapyridine and diclofenac at 10 µg/L during7 days and in controlled conditions. The compounds showing the highest removal during thephytoremediation process were ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, sulfamethazine, sulfadiazine,sulfapyridine and diclofenac with more than 76% reduction. Therefore, Salvinia minima is a promisingmacrophyte with high potential for phytoremediation studies of veterinary drugs in dairy farm waters.