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Formation of disinfection byproducts from accumulated soluble products of oleaginous microalga after chlorination

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Abstract

When microalgae are simultaneously applied for wastewater treatment and lipid production, soluble algal products (SAP) should be paid much attention, as they are important precursors for formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which have potential risks for human health. Chlorella sp. HQ is an oleaginous microalga that can generate SAP during growth, especially in the exponential phase. This study investigated the contribution of SAP from Chlorella sp. HQ to DBP formation after chlorination. The predominant DBP precursors from SAP were identified with the 3D excitation-emission matrix fluorescence. After chlorination, a significant reduction was observed in the fluorescence intensity of five specific fluorescence regions, particularly aromatic proteins and soluble microbial by-product-like regions, accompanied with slight shifting of the peak. The produced DBPs were demonstrated to include trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. As the algal cultivation time was extended in wastewater, the accumulated SAP strengthened the formation of DBPs. The trend for DBP formation was as follows: chloroform>dichloroacetic acid>trichloroacetic acid.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Prof. Hongying Hu and Prof. Zhimin Qiang in designing the experiments. Besides, we are thankful to doctor candidates Ke XU (in Prof. Zhimin Qiang’s laboratory) and Peirui Liu (in Prof. Yu Hong’s laboratory) for polishing the article. This research project was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 51571034) and the Beijing Nova and Leading Talents Cultivation Program (No. Z1511000003150147).

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  1. Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yu Liu, Qiao Zhang & Yu Hong

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  1. Yu Liu
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  2. Qiao Zhang
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  3. Yu Hong
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Correspondence to Yu Hong.

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Liu, Y., Zhang, Q. & Hong, Y. Formation of disinfection byproducts from accumulated soluble products of oleaginous microalga after chlorination. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 11, 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0938-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-017-0938-2

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