ITQB: MMME-PhD Theses
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- Wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation: A comprehensive approach to the mitigation of the antibiotic resistance hazardPublication . Almeida Carrapato Oliveira, Micaela; Silva, Ana Filipa; Barreto Crespo, TeresaWater scarcity is considered a serious worldwide problem and an important threat to the development of human societies. The agricultural sector alone accounts for the consumption of about 70 percent of the available freshwater on Earth, being the share of water withdrawal by agriculture still superior to 90 percent in multiple countries. In this context, wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation comes up as a valuable and sustainable alternative. However, the safety of this practice is still a matter of great concern, since the conventionally applied wastewater treatments are inefficient in the removal of different contaminants of emerging concern, such as antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes, from the treated effluents. Therefore, this thesis performed an assessment on the presence, persistence and characterization of last-line antibiotic resistant bacteria and corresponding resistance genes, from the produced wastewater influents to the reused streams, in two Portuguese full-scale wastewater treatment plants, followed by the application of an additional nanofiltration treatment step to test the removal efficiencies of these antibiotic-related pollutants for the subsequent production of high-quality effluents that could be more safely reused.
- Unravelling foodborne viruses from fish matrices: evaluation of its potential food safety hazardPublication . Silva, Andreia Filipa Oliveira da; Nunes, Mónica; Crespo, Teresa"Food safety has been a concern for all societies since the beginning of humanity. The severity and impacts of this problem have changed through the ages and are still diverse across regions, countries, and communities. Yet, there are some challenges common to all countries, that unfortunately are dealt in different ways. For instance, only a fraction of food safety-related cases are recognised, treated accordingly, reported to public health authorities and recorded in official disease statistics (WHO 2015). Certain chronic diseases, such as cancer, kidney or liver failure, resulting from contaminated food appear long after the ingestion of food, and the causal link is seldom made for each case (WHO 2015). This points to some of the challenges inherent in measuring the burden associated with food safety and its toll on lives and economies (WHO 2015). (...)"
- Treatment of surface water inoculated with Aspergillus species using ultraviolet radiation and photocatalytic membrane reactorsPublication . Oliveira, Beatriz Reis; Pereira, Vanessa; Crespo, Teresa"Limited attention has been given to the presence of fungi in the aquatic environment when compared to other microorganisms such as bacteria and virus. Our previous research showed that fungi occur widely in drinking water sources and described many fungi species that have not been previously reported in the aquatic environment. Moreover, many filamentous fungi species present in water were found to be able to grow at high temperatures and have conidia measurements lower than 5 µm, being therefore considered as potential pathogenic species to humans and animals. (...)"
- Investigation of the N2O emissions on wastewater treatment plants, using a molecular, analytical and engineering approachPublication . Vieira, Anabela Carvalho; Carvalho, Gilda; Oehmen, Adrian; Crespo, Maria Teresa"Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have increased dramatically since the pre-industrial era, driven mainly by economic and population growth. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important GHG with a long atmospheric lifetime (approximately 120 years) and a global warming potential of 265 CO2-equivalents and contributes to ozone depletion. Therefore, N2O emissions (even at low levels) of a wastewater treatment system are relevant and increase severely their overall carbon footprint."
- Integration of Membrane Filtration and Photolysis Processes for Drinking Water TreatmentPublication . Sanches, Sandra; Crespo, Teresa; Pereira, Vanessa; Crespo, JoãoWater is a fundamental resource for life. The presence of hazardous micropollutants such as pesticides and hormones in drinking water sources as well as the evidence of their presence in several treated waters raised concerns regarding the quality of the water intended for human consumption. The development of new technologies which are able to cope with these micropollutants and ensure the fulfillment of future more stringent regulations is therefore needed. Low pressure ultraviolet direct and indirect photolysis (using hydrogen peroxide and titanium dioxide) and nanofiltration are extremely promising technologies to effectively remove organic micropollutants from water.(...)
- Microbiology of membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment: a molecular approachPublication . Silva, Ana Filipa; Crespo, Teresa; Carvalho, GildaWater is a natural resource essential for life maintenance of the human kind and the ecosystems found in Nature. Currently the natural resources of water are increasingly exhausted with the constant water demand. Biological wastewater treatment processes are green, economic and efficient ways to remove pollutants from wastewater and recycle the water back into the environment. Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) in the last two decades have gained special attention due to the small footprint and the high quality of the treated effluent, helping meeting the requirements of increasingly stricter legislations. MBRs combine the activated sludge process with membrane filtration and have specific features that likely affect the microbial structure and ecophysiology.(...)
- Micropollutant bioremoval in wastewater treatment systems: from microbial population structure to functionPublication . Almeida, Bárbara Fonseca de; Crespo, Teresa; Carvalho, GildaThe continuous release of micropollutants into receiving waters due to insufficient elimination from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) raises global concerns regarding their potential risks to the environment and human health.(...)