Effects of exposure to anionic surfactants (SDBS and SDS) on nitrogen removal of aerobic denitrifier

In order to explain the effect of anionic surfactants on aerobic denitrification in the urban river, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) were added in aerobic denitrifier and the efficiency of nitrogen removal, microbial mechanisms, and enzyme activity was investigated in this study. The results showed that the total nitrogen (TN) and the nitrate nitrogen ((Formula presented.)) removal efficiency decreased as an increase of SDBS concentration. In contrast, 59.70% of the TN and 75.12% of (Formula presented.) were removed as the SDBS was 0 mg/L (Control). When SDBS was 200 mg/L (SDBS-200), the removal efficiency of TN and (Formula presented.) was reduced to 4.92% and 4.00%, respectively. However, the denitrification efficiency was significantly accelerated when the concentration of SDS increased, except for 200 mg/L treatment (SDS-200). As the SDS increased from 0 to 100 mg/L (SDS-100), the removal efficiency of TN and (Formula presented.) raised from 59.70% to 70.8% and from 75.12% to 85.08%, respectively. The community structure of aerobic denitrifiers was significantly affected in the SDBS and SDS. While the Cupriavidus and Achromobacter were dominant genera in the group of Control (39.59%, and 42.45%) and SDS-100 (44.40% and 34.86%), the relative abundance of Cupriavidus increased to 84.06% and 59.45% in the group of SDBS-200 and SDS-200, respectively. Enzyme activity assays proved that the nitrite reductase (NiR) relative activity of aerobic denitrification was suppressed by both SDBS and SDS. The increase in the SDS concentrations (from 0 to 50 mg/L) resulted in sharp growth of the nitrate reductase (NR) relative activities (from 100% to 146.86%). These findings demonstrated that SDBS and SDS affected aerobic denitrification efficiency of the aerobic denitrifiers by changing its microbial community structure and enzyme activity. Practitioner points: SDS strengthened aerobic denitrification at low concentration, but the aerobic denitrifiers were inhibited in SDBS. The variation of community structure played a vital role in the aerobic denitrification system. The enzyme activity was seriously affected by SDBS and SDS. Microorganisms and enzyme activity were synergistically involved in the aerobic denitrification.