Influence of nanoscale zero-valent iron and magnetite nanoparticles on anaerobic digestion performance and macrolide, aminoglycoside, β-lactam resistance genes reduction

Abstract The effect of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) and magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) on anaerobic digestion (AD) performance was investigated through a series of 100-day semi-continuous mesophilic anaerobic digestions. The results indicated that biogas production had increased by 24.44% and 21.66% with the addition of 0.5 g/L Fe3O4 NPs and 1.0 g/L NZVI, respectively. Besides, the abundance of five widespread antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (ermF, ermA, ermT, aac(6′)-IB, blaOXA-1) was also studied. The decrease in abundance of aac(6′)-IB and blaOXA-1 was observed during the AD process with an average removal rate of 95.69% and 44.82%, respectively. Most of the ARGs, especially ermA and ermT, were less abundant in NZVI group compared with control group. The overall results suggested that the addition of NZVI and Fe3O4 NPs contributed to a better sludge anaerobic digestion performance, and NZVI was beneficial to the removal of some ARGs.