Biodegradation of organic micropollutants by anoxic denitrification: Roles of extracellular polymeric substance adsorption, enzyme catalysis, and reactive oxygen species oxidation

The control of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in water environments have received significant attention. Denitrification was reported to exhibit good efficiency to remove OMPs, and the mechanisms involved in are too intricate to be well illustrated. In this study, we selected nitrobenzene [NB] and bisphenol A [BPA] as model pollutants and aimed to unravel the mechanisms of Paracoccus Denitrificans in the removal of OMPs, with a specific emphasis on aerobic behavior during denitrification processes. We demonstrated the formation of extracellular superoxide radicals, i.e., extracellular