The study involved selection of wetland plant species hyper efficient in removing fluoroquinolone group of antibiotics so that they can be used in a constructed wetland system patented by NEERI, India (European Patent Office (EPO) Pub. No.: WO2004087584) or any other constructed wetland. Phyto removal of these antibiotics at such high concentrations without any toxic effect on the plant species is very useful as incomplete removal of certain antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin, and Ofloxacin from waste waters is of concern due to their health effects if they do persist in finished waters even at ng/l levels. Five different wetland plant species which were also tested for their efficiency to treat municipal wastewater were used to test their efficiency to scavenge commonly used fluoroquinolone antibiotics (which are not degraded easily) namely Ciprofloxacin, Gemifloxacin mesylate, Ofloxacin and Gatifloxacin from aqueous medium (Hoagland-Arnon solution). EC double beam UV-VIS spectrophotometer was used to obtain lambda max of Ciprofloxacin, Gemifloxacin mesylate, Ofloxacin and Gatifloxacin in Hoagland-Arnon solution. The most efficient plant species for each antibiotic were selected and tested again for confirmation of antibiotic removal efficiency at a high concentration of 50 mg/l of each antibiotic. Taxodium distichum was found to be the most suitable for the removal of Ofloxacin, Gatifloxacin and Ciprofloxacin showing maximum removal of 32 mg/l (on 6 th day), 21 mg/l (on 8 th day), 32 mg/l (on 9 th day), respectively and Canna indica was found to be the most suitable for removal of Gemifloxacin mesylate showing maximum removal of 38 mg/l (on 8 th day).
KeywordsConstructed WetlandWaste Water TreatmentWetland Plant SpeciesFluoroquinolone
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