{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T17:55:38Z","timestamp":1777571738806,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,24]],"date-time":"2023-05-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684886400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/04326\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04326\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/04326\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/04326\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["LA\/P\/0101\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0101\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PTDC\/BTA-BTA\/31567\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/BTA-BTA\/31567\/2017"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (FCT)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/50006\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/04326\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04326\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/04326\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/04326\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["LA\/P\/0101\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0101\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PTDC\/BTA-BTA\/31567\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/BTA-BTA\/31567\/2017"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"CRESC-Algarve and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programs","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Urban wastewaters contain pharmaceuticals that are not appropriately removed in conventional wastewater treatments, limiting treated water reuse. Microalgae have been shown to remove pharmaceuticals from urban wastewater in laboratory trials, but few studies have been conducted under natural conditions. In this work, pharmaceutical removal was assessed in a pilot-scale microalgal tertiary wastewater treatment in real conditions. Even after secondary treatment, the water contained measurable amounts of pharmaceuticals (an average of 218.4 ng\/L) that significantly decreased to 39.83 ng\/L at the exit of the microalgal system. Pharmaceuticals\u2019 average removal rates were slightly higher in the summer (79.1%) than in autumn (71.1%). Antibiotics and antipsychotics were better removed (88.8 and 86.4%, respectively) than antihypertensives (75.3%) and others (Bezafibrate and Diclofenac; 64.0%). Physicochemical characteristics of the wastewater influenced pharmaceutical removal; significant positive correlations were observed between anti-hypertensive drug removal and ammonium concentration (r = 0.53; p &lt; 0.05), total nitrogen and total pharmaceutical removal (r = 0.46; p &lt; 0.05), and total nitrogen and antipsychotic drug removal (r = 0.47; p &lt; 0.05). The results demonstrate the effectiveness of microalgal tertiary treatment in the removal of pharmaceuticals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app13116414","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]],"date-time":"2023-05-25T02:30:06Z","timestamp":1684981806000},"page":"6414","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Pharmaceuticals Removal from Wastewater with Microalgae: A Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4777-4340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Pereira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV, REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Polo III, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Etiele Greque","family":"de Morais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CCMAR\u2014Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Catalunya\u00b7Barcelona Tech, 08034 Barcelona, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2372-1874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liliana","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV, REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Polo III, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0902-647X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angelina","family":"Pena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV, REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Polo III, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3292-5473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreia","family":"Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INIAV\u2014National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research, I.P., Rua dos L\u00e1gidos, Lugar da Madalena, 4485-655 Vila do Conde, Portugal"},{"name":"REQUIMTE\/LAQV, R. D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2153-3282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Margarida Ribau","family":"Teixeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CENSE\u2014Centre for Research on the Environment and Sustainability & Change\u2014Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3101-693X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Varela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CCMAR\u2014Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Green Ocean Technologies and Products Collaborative Laboratory, CCMAR, University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4077-855X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00edsa","family":"Barreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CCMAR\u2014Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"},{"name":"GreenCoLab\u2014Green Ocean Technologies and Products Collaborative Laboratory, CCMAR, University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100076","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nexus.2022.100076","article-title":"Pharmaceutical wastewater as Emerging Contaminants (EC): Treatment technologies, impact on environment and human health","volume":"6","author":"Samal","year":"2022","journal-title":"Energy Nexus"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psep.2021.04.045","article-title":"Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants","volume":"150","author":"Khasawneh","year":"2021","journal-title":"Process Saf. Environ. Prot."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1015","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2018.05.218","article-title":"Occurrence and distribution of carbamazepine, nicotine, estrogenic compounds, and their transformation products in wastewater from various treatment plants and the aquatic environment","volume":"640\u2013641","author":"Ekpeghere","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2018.04.064","article-title":"Monitoring, mass balance and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in seven wastewater treatment plants in Xiamen City, China","volume":"354","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"634","DOI":"10.1016\/j.microc.2019.05.053","article-title":"Antibiotic residues and endocrine disrupting compounds in municipal wastewater treatment plants in Rome, Italy","volume":"148","author":"Spataro","year":"2019","journal-title":"Microchem. J."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Silva, S., Cardoso, V.V., Duarte, L., Carneiro, R.N., and Almeida, C.M.M. (2021). Characterization of Five Portuguese Wastewater Treatment Plants: Removal Efficiency of Pharmaceutical Active Compounds through Conventional Treatment Processes and Environmental Risk. Appl. Sci., 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/app11167388"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2014.09.041","article-title":"Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals from Portuguese wastewaters: Geographical and seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment","volume":"136","author":"Pereira","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Res."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pereira, A., Silva, L., Laranjeiro, C., Lino, C., and Pena, A. (2020). Selected pharmaceuticals in different aquatic compartments: Part I\u2014Source, fate and occurrence. Molecules, 25.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25051026"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2507","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2015.10.100","article-title":"Assessing environmental risk of pharmaceuticals in Portugal: An approach for the selection of the Portuguese monitoring stations in line with Directive 2013\/39\/EU","volume":"144","author":"Pereira","year":"2016","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2021.116532","article-title":"Modeling the fate and human health impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in reclaimed wastewater irrigation for agriculture","volume":"276","author":"Shahriar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2017.07.200","article-title":"Human pharmaceuticals in Portuguese rivers: The impact of water scarcity in the environmental risk","volume":"609","author":"Pereira","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1016\/j.watres.2018.02.046","article-title":"Seasonal performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment enhanced pond system","volume":"136","author":"Sutherland","year":"2018","journal-title":"Water Res."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114921","DOI":"10.1016\/j.watres.2019.114921","article-title":"Microalgal bioremediation of emerging contaminants\u2013Opportunities and challenges","volume":"164","author":"Sutherland","year":"2019","journal-title":"Water Res."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morais, E.G., Cristofoli, N.L., Maia, I.B., Magina, T., Cerqueira, P.R., Teixeira, M.R., Varela, J., Barreira, L., and Gouveia, L. (2021). Microalgal Systems for Wastewater Treatment: Technological Trends and Challenges towards Waste Recovery. Energies, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/en14238112"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134521","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2022.134521","article-title":"Tertiary urban wastewater treatment with microalgae natural consortia in novel pilot photobioreactors","volume":"378","author":"Cerqueira","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barros, R., Raposo, S., Morais, E.G., Rodrigues, B., Afonso, V., Gon\u00e7alves, P., Marques, J., Cerqueira, P.R., Varela, J., and Teixeira, M.R. (2022). Biogas Production from Microalgal Biomass Produced in the Tertiary Treatment of Urban Wastewater: Assessment of Seasonal Variations. Energies, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/en15155713"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100046","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cscee.2020.100046","article-title":"Microalgae based wastewater treatment for the removal of emerging contaminants: A review of challenges and opportunities","volume":"2","author":"Maryjoseph","year":"2020","journal-title":"Case Stud. Chem. Environ. Eng."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"807","DOI":"10.1007\/s00216-010-4297-0","article-title":"Cleanup strategies and advantages in the determination of several therapeutic classes of pharmaceuticals in wastewater samples by SPE-LC-MS\/MS","volume":"399","author":"Sousa","year":"2011","journal-title":"Anal. Bioanal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2015.02.002","article-title":"Capability of microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems to remove emerging organic contaminants: A pilot-scale study","volume":"288","author":"Matamoros","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2017.02.224","article-title":"Performance of a microalgal photobioreactor treating toilet wastewater: Pharmaceutically active compound removal and biomass harvesting","volume":"592","author":"Vicent","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121771","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2019.121771","article-title":"Fate of priority pharmaceuticals and their main metabolites and transformation products in microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems","volume":"390","author":"Arashiro","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102703","DOI":"10.1016\/j.algal.2022.102703","article-title":"An exploration of natural synergy using microalgae for the remediation of pharmaceuticals and xenobiotics in wastewater","volume":"64","author":"Goswami","year":"2022","journal-title":"Algal Res."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121985","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2019.121985","article-title":"Dissipation of antibiotics by microalgae: Kinetics, identification of transformation products and pathways","volume":"387","author":"Kiki","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Hazard. Mater."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100797","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogsc.2023.100797","article-title":"Utilization of nitrogen-rich agricultural waste streams by microalgae for the production of protein and value-added compounds","volume":"41","author":"Khan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Green Sustain. Chem."}],"container-title":["Applied Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/13\/11\/6414\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:41:13Z","timestamp":1760125273000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3417\/13\/11\/6414"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,24]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6]]}},"alternative-id":["app13116414"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/app13116414","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3417"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-3417","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,24]]}}}