RT Journal Article
T1 Azithromycin removal using pine bark, oak ash and mussel shell
A1 Cela Dablanca, Raquel
A1 Barreiro Buján, Ana
A1 Rodríguez López, Lucía
A1 Arias Estévez, Manuel
A1 Fernández Sanjurjo, María J.
A1 Álvarez Rodríguez, Esperanza
A1 Núñez Delgado, Avelino
K1 Adsorption
K1 Antibiotics
K1 By-products
K1 Desorption
K1 Emerging pollutants
K1 Soils
AB Adsorption is considered an interesting option for removing antibiotics from the environment because of its simple design, low cost, and potential efficiency. In this work we evaluated three by-products (pine bark, oak ash, and mussel shell) as bio-adsorbents for the antibiotic azithromycin (AZM). Furthermore, they were added at doses of 48 t ha−1 to four different soils, then comparing AZM removal for soils with and without bio-adsorbents. Batch-type experiments were used, adding AZM concentrations between 2.5 and 600 μmol L−1 to the different bio-adsorbents and soil + bio-adsorbent mixtures. Regarding the bio-adsorbents, oak ash showed the best adsorption scores (9600 μmol kg−1, meaning >80% retention), followed by pine bark (8280 μmol kg−1, 69%) and mussel shell (between 3000 and 6000 μmol kg−1, 25–50% retention). Adsorption data were adjusted to different models (Linear, Freundlich and Langmuir), showing that just mussel shell presented an acceptable fitting to the Freundlich equation, while pine bark and oak ash did not present a good adjustment to any of the three models. Regarding desorption, the values were always below the detection limit, indicating a rather irreversible adsorption of AZM onto these three by-products. Furthermore, the results showed that when the lowest concentrations of AZM were added to the not amended soils they adsorbed 100% of the antibiotic, whereas when the highest concentrations of AZM were spread, the adsorption decreased to 55%. However, when any of the three bio-adsorbents was added to the soils, AZM adsorption reached 100% for all the antibiotic concentrations used. Desorption was null in all cases for both soils with and without bio-adsorbents. These results, corresponding to an investigation carried out for the first time for the antibiotic AZM, can be seen as relevant in the search of low-cost alternative treatments to face environmental pollution caused by this emerging contaminant.
PB Elsevier
SN 0013-9351
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/34796
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/34796
LA eng
NO Environmental Research Volume 252, Part 3 , 1 July 2024, 119048
NO This work was supported by the Spanish “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” (State Investigation Agency) [grant number PID2021-122920OB-C21]. Cela-Dablanca R. received a predoctoral grant from Campus Terra (University of Santiago de Compostela).
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026