Removal of emerging contaminants using spent mushroom compost.

Acetaminophen and sulfonamides are emerging contaminants. Conventional wastewater treatment systems fail to degrade these compounds properly. Mycoremediation, is a form of novel bioremediation that uses extracellular enzymes of white-rot fungi to degrade pollutants in the environment. In this study, spent mushroom compost (SMC), which contains fungal extracellular enzymes, was tested for acetaminophen and sulfonamides removal. Among the SMCs of nine mushrooms tested in batch experiments, the SMC of Pleurotus eryngii exhibited the highest removal rate for acetaminophen and sulfonamides. Several fungal extracellular enzymes that might be involved in removal of acetaminophen and sulfonamides were identified by metaproteomic analysis. The bacterial classes, Betaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, were revealed by metagenomic analysis and may be assisting with acetaminophen and sulfonamide removal, respectively, in the SMC of Pleurotus eryngii. Bioreactor experiments were used to simulate the capability of Pleurotus eryngii SMC for the removal of acetaminophen and sulfonamides from wastewater. The results of this study provide a feasible solution for acetaminophen and sulfonamide removal from wastewater using the SMC of Pleurotus eryngii.