Reevaluating biostimulation strategies: the impact of humic acid on ofloxacin bioadsorption

The exogenous addition of humic acid (HA) is often seen as a biostimulation strategy to expedite the bioremediation of various pharmaceutical pollutants. Nevertheless, the impact of HA on the bioadsorption of ofloxacin (OFL), the main pathway for OFL removal in activated sludge, remains unknown. In this study, the presence of 10 mg/L HA notably decreased the theoretical OFL adsorption capacity from 8.94 to 7.95 mg/g. The inhibitory effect persisted across varying pH and ionic strengths and became more pronounced with increasing HA concentration. The morphological changes on biosolid (BIO) induced by HA indicated that HA was bioadsorbed, which in turn competed with OFL for metal binding sites like Ca and Mg on BIO. Further analysis of the OFL-HA interaction reveals the involvement of hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction. The study also demonstrates the bridging role of HA between OFL and BIO through consecutive desorption and re-absorption processes of OFL in the presence of HA. To quantify the direct and indirect adsorption ratios, a new approach was proposed, which determined the mass ratios of direct (OFL:BIO) and indirect bioadsorption (OFL:HA:BIO) as 1:192 and 1:21:854, respectively. These findings suggest that the indirect OFL adsorption through the HA bridge could not compensate for the adverse effects caused by the reduction of metal binding sites. Overall, this study calls for a reassessment of the addition of HA in the bioremediation process of OFL. Considering that HA widely coexists with antibiotics in wastewater, the study also provides valuable insights into OFL removal mechanisms in WWTPs.