LIANGHeng,WANGYang,ZHENGHongling.Operation Performance of AOA Process under Combined Stress of Microplastics and Perfluorooctanoic Acid[J].China Water & Wastewater,2026,42(3):1-9.
Operation Performance of AOA Process under Combined Stress of Microplastics and Perfluorooctanoic Acid
China Water & Wastewater[ISSN:1000-4062/CN:12-1073/TU]
volume:
第42卷
Number:
第3期
Page:
1-9
Column:
Date of publication:
2026-02-01
- Keywords:
- microplastics; perfluorooctanoic acid; anaerobic-oxic-anoxic (AOA) process; microbial community; extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)
- Abstract:
- The anaerobic-oxic-anoxic (AOA) process, known for its cost?effectiveness and environmental friendliness, is one of the mainstream biological wastewater treatment technologies. However, the impact of emerging contaminants such as microplastics (MPs) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on the performance of the AOA process remains poorly understood. To address this situation, four sequencing batch AOA reactors were established: R0 (control), R1 (50 mg/L MPs), R2 (1 mg/L PFOA), and R3 (50 mg/L MPs + 1 mg/L PFOA), to investigate the effects of these two types of pollutants. The results showed that R1 enriched functional bacteria such as Proteobacteria (33.3%), leading to improved nitrogen and phosphorus removal (TN: 74.6%-77.5%; TP: 91.2%-91.6%), reflecting the enhancement effect of MPs. In R2, inhibited by PFOA, the TN and TP removal rates decreased to 64.5%-71.2% and 81.6%-88.6%, respectively, showing an inhibitory effect. In R3, the adsorption of PFOA by MPs amplified toxicity, further reducing TN and TP removal rates to 60.6%-65.9% and 77.6%-85.6%, demonstrating a synergistic deterioration. Meanwhile, R3 exhibited a cycle of oxidative membrane damage-microbial collapse-performance deterioration: core functional bacteria declined (Nitrospira abundance: 2.1%, 25.0% lower than R0; Accumulibacter abundance: 1.5%, 16.7% lower than R0), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) releases reached 1.28 times and 1.26 times that of R0, the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) decreased, sludge settleability worsened, and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) increased to 115.1 mg/g. Therefore, the combined stress effects of MPs and PFOA on the AOA process should be paid attention to.
Last Update:
2026-02-01