Fungal bioreactors for treatment of emerging organic pollutants: Pellet-based and immobilized configurations.

Authors

Rosario Baldessarelli, Emmanuel Bertrand, Isabelle Seyssiecq, Cristian Barca

Published in

Journal of environmental management. Volume 414. Pages 130446. Jul 14, 2026. Epub Jul 14, 2026.

Abstract

This review evaluates fungal bioreactors for the removal of emerging organic pollutants, focusing on pellet-based and immobilized configurations under different operating conditions. A dataset of 71 studies was analyzed by considering reactor configuration, operating mode, and key operating parameters (e.g., pollutant family, carrier type, and wastewater sterility). Overall, removal efficiency was strongly pollutant-dependent. Exploratory comparisons across the available studies suggested that immobilized systems may perform favorably under continuous operation for selected pollutant families, especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antiepileptics. In the dataset analyzed, these families showed median removal efficiencies of 99% and 74%, in immobilized systems, respectively, compared with 85.5% and 50% in pellet-based systems. These trends may be related to improved biomass retention, reduced washout, and greater operational stability; however, the heterogeneity and non-independence of the available data should be considered when interpreting these comparisons. Carrier effects were context-dependent and were most evident for pesticides, while wastewater sterility mainly influenced continuous immobilized systems by affecting biomass stability, microbial competition, and fungal activity. A major limitation in current studies is the focus on parent compound removal, with a limited assessment of the possible toxicity of transformation products. Future research should prioritize long-term continuous operation under non-sterile wastewater conditions, improved immobilization strategies, carrier durability, and transformation product monitoring.

PMID:
42447559
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.