Proceedings

The release of antibiotics into aquatic environments through treated wastewater effluents is suspected to contribute to the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance. The partial effectiveness of conventional wastewater treatment technologies has necessitated the need for an efficacious treatment method for removing antibiotics from wastewater. This study investigated the potential of sawdust as a bio-adsorbent for the removal of meropenem and ciprofloxacin antibiotics. These antibiotics were selected for this study, based on a priority list recently compiled by the World Health Organisation. High-performance liquid chromatography was deployed for the detection of the antibiotics in water. Batch experiments were set-up for the adsorption studies of the antibiotics using both unmodified and sulphuric acid-modified form of sawdust. Both unmodified and modified sawdust removed the antibiotics from water. The obtained results indicated that sawdust is a potential bio-adsorbent for removing antibiotics from contaminated water.