Removal of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium photo electro-Fenton process: reaction mechanism and pathways

Introduction and Objectives: Multiresistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes released into wastewater. However, a large number of sufficient antibiotics used for human therapy. The rapid spread of them in the environment has become an emerging contaminant issue. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) is a significant nosocomial pathogen all over the world. Therefore, it is very important to develop hospital wastewater treatment technologies for the removal of VREfm. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of photo electro-Fenton (PEF) process for removing VREfm from hospital wastewater. Materials and Methods: Design of the experiment and investigate the effect of different parameters such as current density, H2O2 dosage, inter-electrode distance, UV intensity and reaction time were carried out by application of the response surface methodology (RSM). The VREfm using arabinose agar base and antibiotic discs methods were determined. Results: In the current study, the removal of VREfm was investigated using PEF process. The experimental design was carried out based on a central composite design with response surface methodology. The significance of the independent variables and their interactions are tested by means of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a 95% confidence level. The design results indicated that polynomial equations and response plots soundly justified the interrelationship between the dependent response and the independent variables. Kinetic studies revealed that the pseudo-first order kinetic best fitted to the experimental results of VREfm removal. Conclusion: PEF process as a promising technique was found to be an efficient approach for removal of VREfm from hospital wastewater.

Keywords:

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium , Removal , Hospital wastewater , Photo electro-Fenton.