Novel insights into the impact of anticancer drugs on the performance and microbial communities of a continuous-flow aerobic granular sludge system Castellano-Hinojosa, Antonio Gallardo-Altamirano, Manuel J. González-Martínez, Alejandro González-López, Jesús Wastewater Cytotoxic Nitrogen removal Nutrient removal Microbial diversity Anticancer drugs are frequently found in domestic wastewater, but knowledge of their impacts on wastewater treatment processes is limited. The effects of three levels of concentrations (low, medium, and high) of three anticancer drugs on physicochemical parameters and prokaryotic communities of a continuous-flow aerobic granular sludge (AGS) system were examined. Drugs at medium and high concentrations reduced the removal of total nitrogen and organic matter during the first 15 days of operation by approximately 15–20 % compared to a control, but these effects disappeared afterward. Removal efficiencies of drugs were in the range of 51.2–100 % depending on the concentration level. Drugs at medium and high concentrations reduced the abundance and diversity and altered the composition of prokaryotic communities. Specific taxa were linked to variations in performance parameters after the addition of the drugs. This study provides improved knowledge of the impacts of anticancer drugs in AGS systems operated in continuous-flow reactor. 2023-12-13T09:01:39Z 2023-12-13T09:01:39Z 2024-02 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Castellano-Hinojosa A, Gallardo-Altamirano MJ, González-Martínez A, González-López J. 2024. Novel insights into the impact of anticancer drugs on the performance and microbial communities of a continuous-flow aerobic granular sludge system. Bioresource Technology 394, 130195 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/86141 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2023.130195 eng 394;130195 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional