Removal of Cephalexin Antibiotic and Heavy Metals from Pharmaceutical Effluents using Bacillus subtilis Strain

The rapid development of pharmaceutical industries resulted from producing huge amounts of pharmaceutical effluents. These wastes contain several types of toxins including heavy metals and pharmaceutical compounds, which have high toxicity for human and environment. The traditional technologies are not effective to remove both antibiotic compounds and heavy metals. Besides that, these techniques are associated with toxic by-products. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential of Bacillus subtilis strain isolated from sewage effluent for the biodegradation of cephalexin and bioaccumulation of heavy metal ions simultaneously. The efficiency of B. subtilis to remove cephalexin and heavy metals was investigated by the inoculation 6 log10 CFU mL -1 of this strain into sewage effluents containing cephalexin and different concentrations of heavy metals to simulate the pharmaceutical effluents. The results revealed that B. subtilis removed 80% of Ni 2+ ions, 85% of Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions, 66% of Pb2+ ions and 88% of Cd2+ ions as well as exhibited the potential to biodegrade of cephalexin by 27, 22 and 21% at 10 mg L -1 of Ni 2+ , Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ ions. It can be concluded that B. subtilis strain might be used as an alternative technology for removing heavy metals and antibiotics from pharmaceutical effluents.

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