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Enhanced biodegradation of fluorinated pharmaceutical by Aspergillus flavus and Cunninghamella elegans biofilms: kinetics and mechanisms

Summary

Researchers discovered that two types of fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Cunninghamella elegans, can effectively break down common prescription drugs like fluoxetine, ciprofloxacin, and atorvastatin in wastewater. When grown as biofilms on foam carriers, these fungi removed over 90% of the pharmaceuticals in just a few days. This is an important finding because conventional wastewater treatment doesn’t effectively remove these medications, which can harm aquatic ecosystems.

Background

Pharmaceutical compounds are emerging pollutants detected in wastewater effluents and aquatic environments due to persistence and bioaccumulation potential. Conventional wastewater treatments are not optimized for pharmaceutical removal. White-rot fungi have been studied for pharmaceutical degradation, but their efficiency varies significantly.

Objective

This study investigated the capacity of Aspergillus flavus and Cunninghamella elegans fungi to degrade three persistent fluorinated pharmaceuticals (atorvastatin, ciprofloxacin, and fluoxetine) using an innovative biofilm-based approach with polyurethane foam as a carrier.

Results

C. elegans biofilms on PUF-F demonstrated 97.3% removal of atorvastatin and 97.7% of ciprofloxacin, while A. flavus achieved 92.4% fluoxetine reduction. Biofilm-based systems consistently outperformed carrier-free cultures with pseudo-first-order degradation kinetics and remarkably short half-lives of 1.0-1.7 days.

Conclusion

Tailored fungal biofilm systems show promising potential for efficient removal of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment applications. Species-specific biofilm characteristics and enzymatic capabilities emerged as key factors, presenting a viable, lignin-independent alternative to traditional white-rot fungi-based systems.
  • Published in:Biodegradation,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: PMID: 40946246, DOI: 10.1007/s10532-025-10182-w
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