Changes in regional regulations are causing a shift towards the implementation of total nitrogen removal technologies. Conventional nitrification systems do not remove total nitrogen, instead only oxidizing ammonia and ammonium in the influent to nitrate. Conventional nitrification does, however, result in degradation of estrone (E1), a major contributor to the estrogenicity of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. The objective of this research was to provide guidance on the impact that changes in wastewater treatment practices could have on E1 degradation. This was accomplished by comparing E1 removal in a laboratory-scale conventional nitrification system with that in a range of idealized laboratory-scale systems designed to remove total nitrogen from wastewater: the modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) system (a two-stage anaerobic–aerobic system with recycle), a granular activated sludge system (cycled anaerobic–aerobic), a sequencing batch reactor (cycled anaerobic–aerobic), and an anaerobic ammonia oxidation (anammox) system. As anticipated, E1 removal was excellent when fed to the nitrification, MLE, and sequencing batch reactors, at >96% mean E1 loss. The granular activated sludge system operated in our laboratory failed to remove E1, which was perhaps not unexpected given the high COD loading under which our system was operated. Despite the anaerobic nature of anammox, it also resulted in excellent E1 removal (95% mean E1 loss) without concomitant 17β-estradiol production. This work demonstrates that the choice of nitrogen removal technology used by a treatment plant could have an impact on the estrogenicity of WWTP effluent, but low energy total nitrogen removal systems do exist that are capable of excellent E1 removal.

中文翻译：

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实验室规模系统中的雌酮生物降解设计，用于从废水中去除总氮

区域法规的变化正在导致转向总脱氮技术的实施。传统的硝化系统不会去除总氮，而只会将进水中的氨和铵氧化成硝酸盐。但是，常规硝化作用确实会导致雌酮（E1）降解，雌酮是废水处理厂（WWTP）废水中雌激素的主要来源。这项研究的目的是就废水处理实践中的变化可能对E1降解产生的影响提供指导。通过将实验室规模的常规硝化系统中的E1去除量与一系列旨在去除废水中总氮的理想实验室规模系统中的E1去除量进行比较，可以实现此目标：改进的Ludzack-Ettinger（MLE）系统（带回收的两阶段厌氧-好氧系统），颗粒活性污泥系统（循环厌氧-好氧），测序分批反应器（循环厌氧-好氧）和厌氧氨氧化（anammox）系统。如预期的那样，当进料到硝化，MLE和测序间歇反应器中时，E1的去除效果非常好，平均E1损失> 96％。在我们的实验室中操作的颗粒状活性污泥系统未能去除E1，鉴于系统运行时的高COD负载量，这也许并非意料之外。尽管厌氧厌氧菌具有厌氧性，但它也能实现出色的E1去除率（平均E1损失95％），而不会伴随产生17β-雌二醇。