Open AccessIncreasing ibuprofen degradation in constructed wetlands by bioaugmentation with gravel containing biofilms of an ibuprofen‐degrading Sphingobium yanoikuyae
Author(s) -
Balciunas Eduardo Marcos,
Kappelmeyer Uwe,
Harms Hauke,
Heipieper Hermann J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
engineering in life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1618-2863
pISSN - 1618-0240
DOI - 10.1002/elsc.201900097
Subject(s) - bioaugmentation , ibuprofen , constructed wetland , chemistry , microbial consortium , biodegradation , environmental chemistry , environmental engineering , environmental science , biology , bacteria , contamination , bioremediation , ecology , wastewater , microorganism , pharmacology , genetics
Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the removal of ibuprofen in laboratory scale constructed wetlands. Four (planted and unplanted) laboratory‐scale horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands were supplemented with ibuprofen in order to elucidate (i) the role of plants on ibuprofen removal and (ii) to evaluate the removal performance of a bioaugmented lab scale wetland. The planted systems showed higher ibuprofen removal efficiency than an unplanted one. The system planted with Juncus effusus was found to have a higher removal rate than the system planted with Phalaris arundinacea . The highest removal rate of ibuprofen was found after inoculation of gravel previously loaded with a newly isolated ibuprofen‐degrading bacterium identified as Sphingobium yanoikuyae . This experiment showed that more than 80 days of CW community adaptation for ibuprofen treatment could be superseded by bioaugmentation with this bacterial isolate.