Removal of sulfonamides from water by wetland plants: Performance, microbial response and mechanism

Sulfonamides are widely used in the clinical and animal husbandry industry because of their antibacterial properties and low cost. However, Sulfonamides cannot be fully absorbed by human bodies or animals, 50 %–90 % will be discharged from the bodies, and enter waters and soils through a variety of ways, causing environmental harm. Phytoremediation as a green in situ repair technology has been proven effective in sulfonamides removal, but the underlying mechanisms are still a question that needs to be further studied. In order to explore the relationship between SAs removal and plants (S. validus), root exudates secreted from plants, and microorganisms, the study conducted a series of experiments and used the structural equation model to quantify the pathways of sulfonamides removal in wetland plants. The removal rate of sulfonamides in the plant treatment group (77.6–92 %) was significantly higher than that in the root exudate treatment group (25.7–36.3 %) and water treatment group (16.3–19.6 %). Plant uptake (λ1 = 0.72–0.77) and microbial degradation (λ2 = 0.31–0.38) were the most important pathways for sulfonamides removal. Sulfonamides could be directly removed through the accumulation, adsorption and metabolism of plants. Meanwhile, plants could indirectly remove sulfonamides by promoting microbial degradation. These results will facilitate our understanding of the underlying mechanism and the improvement of sulfonamides removal efficiency in phytoremediation.