Removal of Bisphenol A and Its Potential Substitutes by Biodegradation

Abstract

The possibility of removing bisphenol A and its five potential substitutes (bisphenols S, F, AF, E, and B) was tested using microorganism consortia from river water and activated sludge from municipal and rural wastewater treatment plants. For most bisphenols, biodegradation with activated sludge was faster than with river water and a greater extent of biodegradation was also achieved. However, only bisphenol A and bisphenol F underwent 100% primary biodegradation while other bisphenols degraded no more than about 50% which has some important implications in case of their increased usage. Metabolic activity in biodegradation liquors was also tested and it showed higher activity in the tests with activated sludge than with river water. However, there was no clear connection between the decline of metabolic activity and the extent of biodegradation as decreased activity was observed for two easily degrading bisphenols and two others with little biodegradability. It can be assumed that two different phenomena are involved in this process including depletion of nutrients for easily degradable bisphenol A and absence of nutrients for bacteria incapable of primary degradation of bisphenol AF and bisphenol S.

Keywords: Bisphenol A; Bisphenol AF; Bisphenol B; Bisphenol E; Bisphenol F; Bisphenol S.

Fig. 1

Chemical formula of bisphenols: bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol B (BPB), bisphenol E (BPE), bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol AF (BPAF), and bisphenol S (BPS)

Fig. 2

Biodegradation of bisphenols in three types of tests

Fig. 3

Metabolic activity of the river water microbiota during the biodegradation of bisphenols

Fig. 4

Metabolic activity of the municipal WWTP activated sludge microbiota during the biodegradation of bisphenols

Fig. 5

Metabolic activity of the rural WWTP activated sludge microbiota during the biodegradation of bisphenols